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INSECTS

INJURIOUS TO

VEGETATION

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TREATISE

OM SOJIE OF THE

INSECTS OF NEW ENGLAND

VTHICH ARB

INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION,

By THADDEUS WILLIAM HARRIS, M. D.

SECOND EDITION.

BOSTON:
PRINTED BY WHITE & POTTER

1852.

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852, by

TIIADDEUS WILLIAM HARRIS,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

PREFACE,

The first edition of tliis work was printed in the year 1841. It formed
one of the scientific Reports, which were prepared and published by
the Commissioners on the Zoological and Botanical Survey of Massa-
chusetts, agreeably to an order of the General Court, and at the ex-
pense of the State. The Commission for this" Survey bore the date
of June 10th, 1837 ; and the following instructions from his Excel-
lency, Governor Everett, accompanied it :

" It is presumed to have been a leading object of the Legislature,
in authorizing this Survey, to promote the agricultural benefit of the
Commonwealth, and you will keep carefully in view the economical
relations of every subject of your enquiry. By this, however, it is
not intended that scientific order, method, or comprehension, should
be departed from. At the same time, that which is practically use-
ful will receive a proportionally greater share of attention, than that
which is merely curious ; the promotion of comfort and happiness
being the great human end of all science."

Upon a division of duties among the Commissioners, the depart-
ment of Insects was assigned to me. Some idea of the extent of
this department may be formed by an examination of my Catalogues
of the Insects of Massachusetts, appended to the first and second
editions of Professor Hitchcock's Report, in which above 2300 spe-
cies were enumerated ; and these doubtless fall very far short of
the actual number to be found within this Commonwealth. In en-
tering upon my duty, I was deterred from attempting to describe all
these insects by the magnitude of the undertaking, and by the con-
sideration that such a work, much as it might promote the cause of
science, if well done, could not be expected to prove either inter-
esting or particularly useful to the great body of the people. The

vi PREFACE.

subject and the plan of my Report were suggested by the instruc-
tions of the Governor, and by the want of a work, combining sci-
entific and practical details on the natural history of our noxious
insects. From among such of the latter as are injurious to plants,
I selected for description chiefly those that were remarkable for their
size, for the peculiarity of their structure and habits, or for the ex-
tent of their ravages ; and these, alone, will be seen to constitute a
formidable host. As they are found not only in Massachusetts, but
throughout New England, and indeed in most parts of the United
States, the propriety of giving to the work a more comprehensive
title than it first bore, becomes apparent. This was accordingly
done in the small impression, that was printed at my own charge,
while the original Report was passing through the press, and in
which some other alterations were made to fit it for a wider circu-
lation.

In the course of eight years, all the copies of the Report, and
of the other impression, were entirely disposed of. Meanwhile,
some materials for a new edition were collected, and these have
been embodied in the present work, which I have been called upon
to prepare and carry through the press.

Believing that the aid of science tends greatly to improve the
condition of any people engaged in agriculture and horticulture, and
that these pursuits form the basis of our prosperity, and are the
safeguards of our liberty and independence, I have felt it to be my
duty, in treating the subject assigned to me, to endeavor to make it
useful and acceptable to those persons whose honorable employment
is the cultivation of the soil.

T. W. H.

Cambkidge, Mass., Oct. 15, 1S52.

CONTENTS,

INTRODUCTION.

The word Insect defined, — Brain and Nerves, — Air-pipes and Breathing-
holes, — Heart and Blood, 3. — Insects are produced from Eggs, 3. — Meta-
morplioses, — Examples of Complete Transformation, 4. — Partial Transfor-
mation, 5. — Larva or Infant State, Pupa or Intermediate State, Adult or
Winged State, G. — Head, Eyes, Antennfc, and Mouth, 7. — Thorax or
Chest, Wings, and Legs, — Abdomen or Hind body, 8. — Piercer and Sting,
8. — Number of Insects compared with that of plants. — Classification, Or-
ders, — Coleoptera, 9. — Orthoptera, Hemiptera, 10. — Neuroptera, Lepido-
ptera, Hymenoptera, 11. — Diptcra, 13. — Other Orders and Groups, 15. —
Remarks on Scientific Names, 17.

COLEOPTERA.

Beetles, — Scarabseians, 20. — Ground-Beetles, Tree-Beetles, 21. — Cockcha-
fers or May-Beetles, 22. — Flower-Beetles, 34. — Stag-Beetles, 37. — Bu-
prestians, or Saw-homed Borers, 39. — Spring-Beetles, 45. — Timber-Beetles,
50. — Weevils, 52. — Cylindrical Bark-Beetles, 74. — Capricorn-Beetles, or
Long-horned Borers, 82. — Leaf-Beetles, 103. — Criocerians, 104. — Leaf-
mining Beetles, 105. — Tortoise-Beetles, 107. — Chrysomelians, 108. — Can-
tharides, 119.

ORTHOPTERA.

Structure and Transformations, 125. — Earwigs, 127. — Cockroaches, 128. —
Mantes, or Soothsayers, 129. — Walking Leaves, Spectres, — Crickets, 12!;).
— Mole-Cricket, 131. — Field-Crickets, 132. — Climbing-Crickets, 134. —
Grasshoppers, 136. — Wingless Cricket, 13G. — Katy-did, 138. — Locusts,
or Flying Grasshoppers, 143.

HEMIPTERA.

Bugs, 167. — Squash-Bug, 169. — Chinch-Bug, 172. — Plant-Bugs, 173.—
Harvest-Flies, 177. — Cicadas, 178. — Tree-Hoppers, 191. — Leaf-Hoppers,
196. — Vine-Hopper, 197. — Rose-Hopper, 199. — Bean- Hopper, 200.—
Aphidians, 201. — Psylla, 201. — Thrips, 204. — Plant-Lice, 205. — Ameri-
can Blight, 211. — Enemies of Plant-Lice, 214. — Bark-Lice, 217.

viii CONTENTS.

LEPIDOPTERA.

Caterpillars, 225. — Butterflies, 229. — Skippers, 242. — Ilawk-Motlis, 215.—
iEgerians, or Boring Caterpillars, 251. — Glaucopidians, 257. — Moths, 259.

— Spinners, Litliosians, 2G1. — Tiger-Moths and Ermine-Motlis, 263. —
Tussock-Moths, 281.- Lackey-Moths, 280. — Lappet-Motlis, 292. — Satur-
nians, 295. — Ceratocampians, 30G. — Carpenter-Moths, 316. — Psychians,
318. — Notodontians, 321. — Owl-Moths, 335. — Spindle-Worms, 339.—
Cut-Worms, 341. — Wheat-Worm or Wheat-Caterpillar, 352. — Geometers
or Span- Worms, 350. — Canker- Worms, 359. — Delta-Motlis, 371. — Leaf-
Rollers, 374. — Bud-Moths, 376. — Fruit-Moths, 379. — Tinea;, 382. — Bee-
Moths, 384. — Clothes-Moths, 387. — Grain-Moths, 390. — Feather-winged
Moths, 403.

HYMENOPTERA.

Stingers and Piercers, 404. — Habits of some of the Plymenopterous Insects,
405. — Saw-Flies, 407. — False Caterpillars and Slugs, 408. — Elm Saw-
Fly, 409. — Fir Saw-Fly, 411. — Vine Saw-Fly, 413. — Rose-bush Slug,
415. — Pear-tree Slug, 418. — Horn-tailed Wood-Wasps, 422. — Four-
winged Gail-Flies, 431. — Chalcidians, 436. — Barley Insect, 437. — Joint-
Worm, 441.

DIPTERA.

Gnats and Flies, 447. — Maggots, and their Transformations, 448. — Gall-
Gnats, 450. — Hessian Fly, 452. — Vv^heat-Fly, 470. — Club-footed Gnat,
481. — Snow-Gnat, 482. — Black Fly, Midges, 482. — Horse-Flies, 483.—
Bee-Flies, 484. — Asilians, 485. — Soldier-Flies, 487. — Syrphians, 488.—
Conopians, 489. — Parasitical Flies, 490. — Viviparous Flesh-Flies, 491. —
Piercing Stable-Flies, 491. — Meat-Flies and House-Flies, 492. — Flower-
Flies, 493. — Dung-Flies, 495. — Two-winged Gall-Fhes, and Fruit-Flies,
497. — Oscinians, 498. — Bot-Flies, 499. — Bird-Flies and Spider-Fli«s, 501.

— Flea, 501.

INDEX, 503

CORRECTIONS .

Page 47, line 3, for states read state.

" 54, " 28, for Gleditsia read Gleditschia.

" 119, " 19, for Crytocephalus read Cnjptoccphalus.

" 145, note, for Revelations read Ilevelation.

" 169, line 31, insmt a period after bug.

" 192, " 38, for grouud read ground.

" 233, " 12, for scolloped read scalloped.

" 235, " 29, "/or Abbott's rrarf Abbot's.

" 261, " 32, for Glmicosis read Glaucopis.

" 266, " 5, for flesh white read flesh-white.

" 311, " 4, for before read before.

" 359, " 25, for ege read edge.

" 384," 11, /or differs >-m/ differ.

" 394, " 12, /or bearded m«^ beaded.

INSECTS

INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION

INTRODUCTION.

Insect defixed. — Buaix and Nerves. — AiR-nrES and BREATiiiNa-iioLES. —
Heart and Blood. — Insects are produced eeom Eggs. — Metamorphoses,
OR Transformations. — Examples of Complete Transformation. — Partial
Transformation. — Larva, or Infant State. — Pupa, or Intermediate
State. — Adult, or "Winged State. — Head, Eyes, Antennae, and Mouth.
— Thorax or Chest, Wings, and Legs. — Abdomen or Hind-body, Piercer,
and Sting. — Number or Insects compared -with Plants. — Classification.
Orders. Coleoptera. Orthoptera. Hemiptera. Neuroptera. Lepido-
ptera. Hymenoptera. Diptera. Other Orders and Groups. — Remarks
ON Scientific Names.

The benefits which we derive from insect?, though neitlier few
in number nor inconsiderable in amount, are, if we except
those of the silk-worm, the bee, and the cochenille, not very
obvious, and are almost entirely beyond our influence. On the
contrary, the injuries that we suffer from them are becoming
yearly more apparent, and are more or less within our control.
A familiar acquaintance with our insect enemies and friends,
in all their forms and disguises, will afford us much help in the
discovery and proper application of the remedies for the depre-
dations of the former, and will tend to remove the repugnance
wherewith the latter are commonly regarded.

Destructive insects have their appointed tasks, and arc lim-
ited in the performance of them ; they are exposed to many
accidents through the influence of the elements, and they fall
a prey to numerous animals, many of them also of the insect
race, which, while they fulfil their own part in the economy of
1

2 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

nature, contribute to prevent the undue increase of the noxious
tribes. Too often, by an unwise interference with the plan of
Providence, we defeat the very measures contrived for our
protection. We not only suffer from our own carelessness,
but through ignorance fall into many mistakes. Civilization
and cultivation, in many cases, have destroyed the balance
originally existing between plants and insects, and between
the latter and other animals. Deprived of their natural food
by the removal of the forest-trees and shrubs, and the other
indigenous plants that once covered the soil, insects have now
no other resource than the cultivated plants that have taken
the place of the original vegetation. The destruction of insect-
eating animals, whether quadrupeds, birds, or reptiles, has
doubtless tended greatly to the increase of insects. Coloniza-
tion and commerce have, to some extent, introduced foreign
insects into countries where they were before unknown. It is
to such causes as these, that we are to attribute the unwelcome
appearance and the undue multiplication of many insects in
our cultivated grounds, and even in our store-houses and
dwellings. We have no reason to believe that any absolutely
new insects are generated or created from time to time. The
supposed new species, made known to us first by their un-
wonted depredations, may have come to us from other parts,
or may have been driven by the hand of improvement from
their native haunts, where heretofore the race had lived in
obscurity, and thus had escaped the notice of man.

To understand the relations that insects bear to each other
and to other objects, and to learn how best to check the ravages
of the noxious tribes, we must make ourselves thoroughly
acquainted with the natural history of these animals. This
subject is particularly important to all persons who are inter-
ested in agricultural pursuits. For their use, chiefly, this
account of the principal insects that are injurious to vegetation
in New England, has been prepared. It has been thought best
to prefix thereto some remarks on the structure and classifica-
tion of insects, to serve as an introduction to the succeeding
chapters, and, in some measure, to supply the want of a more
general and complete work on this branch of natural history.

INTRODUCTION. 3

The word //^ver/, which, in the Latin language, from whence
it was derived, means cut into or notched, was designed to
express one of the chief characters of this group of animals,
whose body is marked by several cross-lines or incisions. The
parts between these cross-lines are called segments, or rings,
and consist of a iiuiiiber of jointed pieces, more or less moval:)lc
on each other.

Insects have a very small brain, and, instead of a spinal
marrow, a kind of knotted cord, extending from the brain to
the hinder extremity ; and numerous siuall whitish tiireads,
which are the nerves, spread from the brain and knots, in
various directions. Two long air-pipes, within their bodies,
together with an immense number of smaller pipes, supply the
want of lungs, and carry the air to every part. Insects do not
breathe through their mouths, but through little holes, called
spiracles, generally nine in number, along each side of the
body. Some, however, have the breathing-holes placed in the
hinder extremity, and a few young water-insects breathe by
means of gills. The heart is a long tube, lying under the skin
of the back, having little holes on each side for the admission
of the juices of the body, which are prevented from escaping
again by valves or clappers, formed to close the holes within.
Moreover, this tubular heart is divided into several chambers,
by transverse partitions, in each of which there is a hole shut
by a valve, w^hich allows the blood to flow only from the hinder
to the fore part of the heart, and prevents it from passing in
the contrary direction. The blood, which is a colorless or yel-
lowish fluid, does not circulate in proper arteries and veins ;
but is driven from the fore part of the heart into the head, and
thence escapes into the body, where it is mingled with the
nutritive juices that filter through the sides of the intestines,
and the mingled fluid penetrates the crevices among the flesh
and other internal parts, flowing along the sides of the air-
pipes, whereby it receives from the air that influence which
renders it fitted to nourish the frame and maintain life.

Insects are never spontaneously generated from putrid animal
or vegetable matter, but are produced from eggs. A few, such
as some plant-lice, do not lay their eggs, but retain them within

4 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

their bodies till the young are ready to escape. Others inva-
riably lay their eggs where their young, as soon as they arc
hatched, will find a plentiful supply of food immediately within
their reach.

Most insects, in the course of their lives, arc subject to very
great changes of form, attended by equally remarkable changes
in their habits and propensities. These changes, transforma-
tions, or nieUunorphoscs, as they are called, might cause the
same insect, at different ages, to be mistaken for as many
different animals. For example, a caterpillar, after feeding
upon leaves till it is fully grown, retires into some place of
concealment, casts off its caterpillar-skin, and presents itself in
an entirely different form, one wherein it has neither the power
of moving about, nor of taking food; in fact, in this its second
or chrysalis state, the insect seems to be a lifeless oblong oval
or conical body, without a distinct head, or movable limbs ;
after resting awhile, an inward 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 suffice for its nourishment.

The little fish-like animals that swim about in vessels of
stagnant w^ater, and devour the living atoms that swarm in the
same situations, soon come to maturity, cast their skins, and
take another form, wherein they remain rolled up like a ball,
and cither 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 transformation; 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 w^ith water and sinks,
when the insect abandons its native element, spreads its tiny
wings, and flies away, piping its ^var-note, and thirsting for
the blood which its natural weapons enable it to draw from its
unlucky victims.

INTRODUCTION. 5

The fnll-fod maggot, lliat has rioted in filth till its lender
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 tnrns brown and dry, so
that, under this form, the creature appears more like a seed
than a living animal-; after some time passed in this inactive
and equivocal form, dnring 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 licpiid contents of our cups.

Caterpillars, grubs, and maggots undergo a complete trans-
formation in coming to maturity ; but there are other insects,
such as crickets, grasshoppers, 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 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 moultings, its body not only increases in
size, but becomes proportionally 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 vora-
ciously, grows larger and larger, and hops about without any
aid from its short and motionless wings, repeatedly casts off its
outgrown skm, appearing each time with still longer wings,
and more perfectly formed fimbs, till at length it ceases to grow,
and, shedding its skin for the last time, it comes forth a perfectly
formed and mature grasshopper, with the power of spreading
its ample wings, and of using them in flight.

Hence there are three periods in the life of an insect, more
or less distinctly marked by corresponding changes in the form,
powders, and habits. In the first, or period of infancy, an insect
is technically called a larva, a word signifying a mask, because

6 INSECTS IXJUmOUS TO VEGETATION.

therein its future form is more or less masked or concealed.
This name is not only applied to gi'ubs, caterpillars, and
maggots, and to other insects that undergo a complete trans-
formation, but also to young and wizigless 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 always 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 deathlike sleep, — is called ihe 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 pupos 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
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 insects 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 distinctly separated from the hinder part of the body,
as may be perceived in caterpillars, grubs, and maggots.

INTRODUCTION. 7

The eyes of adult insi'c-ts, tlioiigii apparciilly two in iintiil)('r,
are compound, each consisting of a great number of single eyes
closely vmited together, and incapable of being rolled in their
sockets. Such also are the eyes of the larvte, and of the active
pupa3 of those insects that imdergo an iiii[)(M-reet 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 consist of five or six eyelets clustered together, without
touching, on each side of the head; some, however, such as
maggots, are totally blind. Near to the eyes are two jointed
members, named antennrc, 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 antennsB are very short in larvae, and of various sizes and
forms in other insects.

The mouth of some insects is made for biting or chewing,
that of others for taking food only by suction. The biting-
insects have the parts of the mouth variously modified to suit
the nature of the food ; and these parts are, an upper and an
under lip, two nippers or jaws on each side, moving sidewise,
and not up and down, and fovir or six little jointed members,
caRed palpi or feelers, whereof two belong 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 difierent
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 recognized. Thus the jaw^s of caterpillars are
transformed to a spiral sucking-tube in butterflies and moths,
and those of maggots to a hard proboscis, fitted for piercing, as
in the mosquito and horse-fly, or to one of softer consistence,
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.

8 INSECTS IXJUPJOUS TO VEGETATION.

The parts belonging to the thorax are the wings and the
legs. The former are two or fovu' in number, and vary greatly
in form and consistence, in the situation of the Aving-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 larvse
and pupGB of those that are subject only to a partial transfor-
mation. 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 larvte 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 segments, and sometimes an additional fleshy
pro)>leg under the hindmost extremity ; caterpillars and false
caterpillars have, besides 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
many winged or adult insects are provided. The piercer is
sometimes 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, con-
taining 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, connected wherewith in the inside of the
body is a bag of venom or poison. The parts belonging to the
abdomen of larvae are various, but are mostly designed to aid
them in their motions, or to provide for their respiration.

An English entomologist has stated, that, on an average,
there are six distinct insects to one plant. This proportion is

INTRODUCTION. 9

probably too girat for our country, where vast tracts are covered
with forests, aiul the other original vegetabU^ races still hold
possession of the soil. There are above 1200 flowering plants
in Massachusetts, 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 adult state, the number and nature of the
wings, and the transformations. 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 straiglit line on the top of the back,
and two filmy wings, which are folded transversely. Trans-
formation 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 injuri-
ous to vegetation. The tiger-beetles {CicindeJadcs*), the predaceo-js
ground-beetles (Carfli/dfc), the diving-beetles {Dytiscidcr), the lady-birds
(Coccinellada;), and some others, are eminently serviceable by preying
upon caterpillars, planl-lice, and other noxious or destructive insects.
The water-lovers {Hydrophilidcc), rove-beetles (SlaphylinidcE), carrion-
beetles (Si'/p/tctrfffi), skin- beetles (Der?nesladce, Bi/rrhidce, and Trogida>),
bone-beetles (some of the NitiduIadcE and Cleridcp), and various kinds
of dung-beetles [Sphcpridiadce, Histeridce, Geotrupidccf, CoprididcBf,
and Aphodiadcef) , and clocks (PimeUadcr- and Blaplidce),dLC\. the useful
part of scavengers, by removing carrion, dung, and other filth, upon
which alone they and their larvfc subsist. Many Coleoptera (some
StaphylinidcE and NiiiduJadce, Diaperididce, some Serropalpidce, Myce-

* See the Catalogue of Insects appended to Professor Hitchcock's Report on
the Geology, Mineralogy, Botany, and Zoology of Massachusetts. 2d edit. Svo.
Amherst. 1835.

t AH the Scarabajidae of my Catalogue, from Ateuchus to Geotnipes inclusive,
to which may be added many included in the genus Scardbceus,

2

10 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

tophagidic, Erotylidce., and Endomychidce) 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
{Elateridcr), darkling-beetles {Tenehrio7iid(E), and many bark-beetles
{Helopidcc, Cisteladoi, Serropalpidce, (EdemeradcB, CucujadcB, and some
Trogositud(c), which, living under the bark and in the trunks and roots
of old trees, though they may occasionally prove injurious, must, on the
whole, be considered 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-beetles {Cantharidida) have, for
a long time, been employed with great benefit in the healing art.

2. — Ortiioptera {Cockroaches, Crickets, Grasshoppers, Sfc).
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.
Larva? and pupse active, but wanting wings.

All of the insects of this order, except the camel-crickets {ManiidcB),
which prey on other insects, are injurious to our household possessions,
or destructive to vegetation.

3. — Hkmiptera {Bugs, Locusts, Plant-lice, Sfc). Insects
with a horny beak for suction, four wings, whereof the upper-
most are generally thick at the base, with thinner extremities,
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 pupae nearly
like the adult insect, but w^anting wings.

The various kinds of field and house bugs give out a strong and disa-
greeable smell. Many of them (some Penlaloinadce and Lygmda;,
Cimicidcc, Reduviada;, Hydrometradcc, Nepadcs, 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 cicadte, tree-hoppers, plant-lice, bark-lice,

INTRODUCTION. W

mealy bugs, and tlic like, that suck the juices of plants, and require the
greatest care and watchfulness on our part to keep them in check.

4. — Niu-ROPTKRA (Drai^on-flirs, Lare-trin<^cd Jlies ; May-Jlies^
Ant-lion^ Brnj-jlij, While ants, t^^r.). Insects with jaws, four
netted wings, of which the hinder ones are the lari^est, and no
sting or piercer. Transformation complete, or partiid. Larva
and pnpa various.

The white ants, wood-lice, and wood-ticks {Tcrmitidce and Psocidcc),
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 {Lihelluladcp)^ prey upon gnats and mosquitos ;
and their larvae and pupa-, as well as those of the day-flies (Ephemcradcs),
semblians {SembUdidcc), and those of some of the May-flies, called
cadis-worms (Phnjganeadcc), all of which live in the water, devour
aquatic insects. The predaceous habits of the ant-lions {Mijrmeleon-
tidcB) have been often described. The lace-winged flies {Hejiierobiada),
in the larva state, live wholly on plant-lice, great numbers of which they
destroy. The mantispians {31antispadff), and the scorpion-flies {Panor-
padce), are also predaceous insects.

5. — Lepidoptera {Butterflies and Moths). Mouth with a
spiral sucking-tube; wings four, covered with branny scales.
Transformation complete. The larva? are caterpillars, and
have six true legs, and from four to ten fleshy prop-legs. Pupa
with the cases of the Avings and of the legs indistinct, and
soldered 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, fruit, seeds, bark, pith, stems,
and roots of plants.

6. — Hymexoptera {Saw-flies, Ants, Wasps, Bees, Sf-c). In-
sects with jaws, four veined wings, in most species, the hinder
pair bejng the smallest, and a piercer or sting at the extremity
of the abdomen. Transformation complete. Larva> mostly
maggot-like, or slug-like ; of some, caterpillar-like. Pupae with
the legs and wings vmconfined.

12 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

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 ( TenUire-
ditiidce), under the form of false-caterpillars and slugs, are leaf-eaters,
and are oftentimes productive of much injury to plants. The larvae of
the xiphydrians (Xiphydriadcr), and of the horn-tails (UroceridcB), are
borers and wood-eaters, and consequently injurious to the plants inhab-
ited by them. Pines and firs suffer most from their attacks. Some of
the warty excrescences on the leaves and stems of plants, such as oak-
apples, gall-nuts, and the like, arise from the punctures of four-winged
gall-flies {Diplolepididcr), and the irritation produced by their larvse,
which reside in these swellings. The injury caused by them is, com-
paratively, 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 larvse of the ichneumon-
flies {Ei'aniad<2, Ichneumonida, and ChaJcididcc), which live upon the
fat of their victims, and finally destroy them. Some of these ichneumon-
flics (Ichneumones oi-idorinu*) are extremely small, and confine their
attacks to the eggs of other insects, which they puncture, and the little
creatures produced from the latter find a sufficient quantity of food to
supply all their wants within the larger eggs they occupy. The ruby-
tails [Chrysidida), nud the cuckoo-bees (HylcBus, Sphecodes, Nomada,
Melecta, Epeolus, Ccelioxys,Vind 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 (CraZiro?JiVZ(r), and numerous kinds of sand-wasps (Larradcp,
Bemhicido', Sphegida, Pompilido'^ and Scoliadce), mud-wasps (Pelo-
p(vus), the stinging velvet-ants (Ahitilladcp), and the solitary wasps
(Odynerus and Eiwicnes), are predaceous in their habits, and provision
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 occa-
sional 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 ofl^spring

* Now placed among the Proctotrupidce.

INTRODUCTION. 18

not only witli vegetable juices, but willi tbe softer parts of otber insects,
great numbers of whicb they seize and destroy for this purpose. The
soHtary and social bees {Andrenadic and Apida) live wholly on the
honey and jiollen of (lowers, 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 comfort and convenience of man, in return for the care
and attention afforded them. Honey and wax are also obtained from
several species of wild bees (Melipona, Trigona, and Tetragona),
essentially different from the domesticated kinds. While bees and other
hymenoplerous insects seek only the gratification of their own inclina-
tions, 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 {Mosqiiitos, Gnats, Flies, Sfc). Insects with
a horny or fleshy proboscis, two wings only, and two knobbed
threads, called balancers or poisers, behind the wings. Trans-
formation complete. The larvee 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, sometimes, 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 sucking, or ending
with soft and fleshy lips for lapping. In our own persons we suffer
much from the sharp suckers and blood-thirsty propensities of gnats and
mosquitos {Culicido'), and also from those of certain midges {Cerato-
pogon and Simulium), including the tormenting black-flies {Simulium
molesfum) 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 (Tabanidcp), whose larva? live in the ground,
and the stinging stable-flies {Sto7noxys), which closely resemble common
house-flies, and in the larva state live in dung, attack both man and

14 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

animals, goading the latter sometimes almost to madness by their severe
and incessant punctures. The winged horse-ticks (Hippohoscce)^ the
bird-flies [Ornithomyicv) ^ the wingless sheep-ticks (MeJophagi), and the
spider-flies {Nyclerihicp)^ and bee-lice {Br aula) ^ which are also desti-
tute of wings, are truly parasitical in their habits, and pass their whole
lives upon the skin of animals. Bot-flies, or gad-flies [(Eslridce)^ as
they are sometimes called, appear to take no food while in the winged
state, and are destitute of a proboscis ; the nourishment obtained by
their larvEe, which, as is well known, live in the bodies of horses, cattle,
sheep, and other animals, being sufficient 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
{Cecidonujia;), including the wheat-fly and Hessian fly, the root-eating
maggots of some of the long-legged gnats {Tipulce), ihosc of the flower-
flies (Ant Jio7nyicp), and the two-winged gall-flies and fruit-flies {Ortali-
des). To this list of noxious flies are to be added the common house-
flies {3Iiisccr), which pass through the maggot state in dung and other
filth, the blue-bottle or blow-flies, and meat-flies (Lucilice and Calli-
phorcr), together with the maggot-producing or viviparous flesh-flies
(Sarcophago' and Cyno?nyice), 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 larva? upon dung, carrion, and all kinds of
filth, by which means, and by similar 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 larvce live in stagnant water, such as gnats
(Culicido'), feather-horned gnats {Chirononms, &c.), the soldier-flies
(Stratiomyadcr) , the rat-tailed flies (Helophilus, &c. &c.), tend to pre-
vent the water from becoming putrid, by devouring the decayed animal
and vegetable matter it contains. The maggots of some flies {Myceto-
philce and various Muscada') live in mushrooms, toadstools, and similar
excrescences growing on trees; those of others (Sargi, XylophagidcB^
Asilida>, Therevcp, Milesicp, XyJotcp, Borbori, &c. &c.), in rotten wood
and bark, thereby joining with the grubs of certain beetles to hasten the

INTRODUCTION. 15

removal of these dead and useless substances, and make room for new
and more vigorous vegetation. Some of these wood-eating insects, with
others, when transformed to flies {Asilidic, Rhagionida., Dolichopid(P,
and Xylophagida), prey on other insects. Some (Si/rphidcc), though
not predaceous themselves in the winged state, deposit their eggs among
plant-lice, upon the blood of which their young afterwards subsist.
Many (Conopidce, excluding Stomoxys, Tachimc, Ocijpfera;, Phorce, &lc.)
lay their eggs on caterpillars, and on various other larvse, within the
bodies of which the maggots hatched from these eggs live till tliey
destroy their victims. And finally others {Anthracidce 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. Besides 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 furnishing 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 magsots
of 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
resemblances. It is impossible to sllo^v 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 Rhipiptera of
Latreille, consists of certain minute insects, which undergo
their transformations within the bodies of bees and wasps.
One of them, the Xenos Peckii, was discovered by Professor
Peck in the common brown wasp [Polistes fuscata) of this

16 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

country. The larva is maggot-like, and lives between the rings
of the back of the wasp ; the pnpa resembles that of some
flies, and is cased in the dried skin of the larva. The females
never acquire wings, and never leave the bodies of the bees or
wasps into which they penetrate while young. The males, in
the adult state, have a pair of short, narrow, and twisted mem-
bers, 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 betw^een the Lepidoptera and Diptera, but thinks them
most nearly allied to some of the Hymenoptera.

The flea tribe [Pulicidfc) 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, in the place whereof there are
four little scales, pressed closely to the sides of their bodies ;
their mouth is fitted for suction, and provided with several
lancet-like pieces for making punctures ; they undergo a com-
plete transformation ; their larvae are worm-like and without
feet; and their pupae have the legs free. These insects, of
which there are many different kinds, are intermediate in their
characteristics between the Hemiptera and the Diptera, and
seem to connect more closely these two orders together.

The ear-wigs (Forficnlada), 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 Orthoptera, with which they agree in their partial trans-
formations, and active pupae. They form the little order Der-
maptera of Leach, or Euplexoptera of Westwood.

The spider-flies, bu-d-flies, sheep-tick, &c. (Hippoboscadce),
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-flics [Phry^aneadce), have been sepa-
rated from the Neuroptera ; and constitute the order Tricho-

INTRODUCTION. 17

PTERA of Kirby. Latreille and most of the naturalists of the
continent of Europe still retain them in Neuroptera, to whicii
they seem properly to belong.

Tlie Tlirips 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
Thysanoptera of Haliday; but I propose to leave it, as La-
treille has done, among the Hemiptera.

The English entomologists separate from Hemiptera the
cicadas or harvest-flies, lantern-flies, frog-hoppers, plant-lice,
bark-lice, &c., under the name of Homoptera ; but these insects
seem too nearly to resemble the true Hemiptera to warrant the
separation.

Burmeister, a Prussian natmalist, has subdivided the Neu-
roptera into the orders Neuroptera and Dictyotoptera, the
latter to include the species which undergo only a partial
transformation. K 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. Entomo-
logy, 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 outnumber the species in
every class of the animal, vegetable, and mineral 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 advantage over other names in being intelligible to
3

18 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

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 misapplied. For example, the name weevil
is given, in this country, to at least six different kinds of in-
sects, 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 sub-
ject 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 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
nomenclatiu'e invented by Linnaeus, these weevils are all
arranged under three hundred and fifty-five generical, or sur-
names, requiring 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 Rumhmntia stands for camels, lamas, giraffes, deer, ante-
lopes, 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; Lepidopter a ii\c\vide.s 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 difficult 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 be 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,

INTRODUCTION. 19

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 inexperienced 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, arid the mechanic soon become familiar
with the names and phrases peculiar to their several callings,
uncouth, and without apparent signification, as many of them
are. So, too, the terms of science lose their forbidding and
mysterious appearance and sound by the frequency of their
recurrence, and finally become as harmonious to the car, as
they are clear and definite in their application.

20 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

COLEOPTERA.

Beetles. — Scarab.t:iaxs. Ground-Beetles. Tree-Beetles. Cockchafers
OR May-Beetles. Flower-Beetles. Stag-Beetles. — Buprestians, or
Saw-horned Borers. — Spring-Beetles. — Timber-Beetles. — Weevils. —
Cylindrical Bark-Beetles. — Capricorn-Beetles, or Long-horned Bor-
ers. — Leaf-Beetles. Criocerians. Leaf-mining Beetles. — Tortoise-
Beetles. Chrysomelians. — Cantharides.

The wings of beetles are covered and concealed by a pair of
horny cases or shells, meeting in a sti-aight line on the top of
the back, and usually having a little triangular or semicircular
piece, called the scutel, wedged between their bases. Hence
the order to which these insects belong is called Coleoptera, a
word signifying wings in a sheath. Beetles* are biting-insects,
and are provided 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 Linnaeus placed a gi'oup 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 fur-
nished, — together with others, which, though they do not
present the same imposing appearance, require to be noticed,
on account of the injury sustained by vegetation from their
attacks. An immense number of Scarabseians (Sc arable id^e),
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 antennae, 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 {chjpeus) of the forehead, which extends

* Beetle, in old English, betl, hytl, or litel, means a biter, or insect that bites.

COLEOrXERA. 91

more or less over the face, like the visor or l)rim of a cap, and
beneath the sides of this visor the antennae are implanted.
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 composed of beetles distin-
guished 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 ilowers,
and are called flower-beetles. The ground-beetles, including
the earth-borers (Gcotrupidce), and dung-beetles {Copridida:
and Aphodiada;), which, in all their states, are found in excre-
ment, the skin-beetles ( Trogidce), which inhabit dried animal
substances, and the gigantic Hercules-beetles {D//)iastidw),
which live in rotten wood or beneath old dung-heaps, must be
passed over without further comment. The other groups con-
tain 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 lanigera, 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 twihght they come forth
from their retreats, and fly about with a humming and rustling
sound among the branches of trees, the tender leaves of which
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

22 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

middle of the day they remain at rest upon the trees, clinging
to the under-sides of the leaves; and endeavor to conceal
themselves by drawing two or three leaves together, and hold-
ing them in this position with their long unequal claws. In
some seasons they occur in profusion, and then may be obtained
in great quantities by shaking the young trees on which they
are lodged in the daytime, as they do not attempt to fly \vhen
thus disturbed, but fall at once to the gi'ound. The larvaj of
these insects are not known; probably they live in the ground
upon the roots of plants. The group to ^vhich the goldsmith-
beetle belongs may be called Rutilians (rutilid.e), from Riitela,
or more correctly Rutila, signifying shining, the name of the
principal genus included in it. The Rutilians connect the
ground-beetles with the tree-beetles of the following group,
having the short and robust legs of the former, with ^ the leaf-
eating habits of the latter.

The spotted Pelidnota, Pelidnota 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 then* only food. They sometimes prove very injuri-
ous to the vine. The only method of destroying them, is to
pick them oft' 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 differ essentially from those of other Scarabaeians.

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 MeloIorUha, a word used by the ancient Greeks to
distinguish the same kind of insects, which were supposed by
them to be produced from or with the flowers of apple-trees, as

COLEOPTERA. 3W»

the name itself implies. These beetles, together with many
others, for which no common names exist in our language, are
now united in one family called melolonthad.e, or Melolon-
thians. The following 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' generally of three leaf-like pieces, some-
times of a greater number, which open and shut like the leaves
of a book; the visor is short and wide; the upper jaws are
furnished at base on the inner side with an oval space, crossed
by ridges, like a millstone, for grinding; the thorax is trans-
versely square, or nearly so ; the wing-cases do not cover the
whole of the body, the hinder exti-emity of which is exposed;
the legs^are rather long, the first pair armed externally with
two or three teeth ; and the claws are notched beneath, 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 leave.'j 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 then- transformations.

The habits and transformations of the common cockchafer
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 devours the leaves of ti-ees 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 sLx inches or more,
making their way by means of the strong teeth which arm the
fore-legs ; here they deposit their eggs, amounting, according
to some ^\Titers, to nearly one hundred, or, as others assert, to
tw^o hundred from each female, which are abandoned by the
parent, who generally ascends again to the surface, and per-
ishes in a short time.

24 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

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 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 sur-
face, 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 glutin-
ous 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 envelopes 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 aftenvards the perfected 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, suffered much
by them, and, with his man, gathered eighty bushels of the
beetles. In the year 1785 many provinces in France were so
ravaged by them, that a premium was offered 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.

COLEOPTERA. ' 25

III their winged state, these beetles, with several other spe-
cies, 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 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 irregularly, 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 vaga-
ries, 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 infinite
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 lilce 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. is 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.
4

26 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

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 " Anderson's Recreations " it is stated, that " a
cautious observer, having found a nest of five young jays,
remarked, that each of these birds, 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 reckoning their descendants after the first year, would
destroy eighty thousand grubs. Let us suppose that the half,
namely, forty thousand, are females, and it is known that they
usually lay about t^vo hundred eggs each, it will appear, that
no less than eight millions have been destroyed, or prevented
from being hatched, by the labors 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.

We have several Melolonthians whose injuries in the perfect
and grub state apjiroach to those of the European cockchafer.
PhyUophaga* qucrcina of Knoch, the May-beetle, as it is gen-
erally 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 ;

* A genus proposed by me in 182G. It signifies leaf-cater. Dejean subse-
quently called this genus Ancylonycha.

COLEOPTERA. 27 .

each wing-case has two or three slightly ekn-ated kingitn(liii;il
lines; the breast is clothed with yellowish down. The knob of
its antennjD 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 cheiTy-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
oy 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 evaporated, while others
exhibit the true color and texture of the perfect insect. The
grubs devour the roots of gi-ass and of other plants, and in
many places the turf may be turned up like a carpet in cons,e-
quence of the destruction of the roots. The grub* 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 devoiu-ed by the skunk, whose beneficial
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 tvvo pailfuls of beetles were collected on the first
experiment; the number caught regularly decreased until the
fifth evening, when only tAvo 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 flv. They are most easily collected in a cloth spread under
the trees to receive them when they fall, after which they should
be thrown into boiling water, to lull them, and may then be
given as food to swine.

* 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 Scarabccus relldus by Jlr. Say.

28 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

There is an undescribed kind of Phyllophaga^ or leaf-eater,
called, in my Catalogue of the Insects of Massachusetts,*
fraterna, because it is nearly akin to the qiiercina, 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 lines on the latter
are hardly visible. It measures thirteen twentieths of an inch
in length. 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 Phyllophaga has been described by Knoch
and Say, under the name of hirticiila, 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 July.

In some parts of Massachusetts the Phyllophaga Georgicana
of Gyllenhall, or Georgian leaf-eater, takes the place of the
quercina. 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 yellowish 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-yeUow 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.

Hentz's Melolontha variolosa^ or scarred Melolontha, differs
essentially from the foregoing beetles in the structure of its
antennae, the knob of which consists of seven narrow strap-

* In order to save unnecessary repetitions, it may be -well to state, that the
Catalogue, above named, to which frequent reference will be made in the course
of this treatise, 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.

COLEOPTERA. 29

shaped ochre-yellow leaves, which arc excessively long in the
mah^s. Tiiis fine insect is of a light brown color, with irregular
whitish blotches, like 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 Melolontliians an; found in gardens, nurseries,
and orchards, where they are more or less injurious to the fruit-
trees, in proportion to their niimbers 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 Illiger,
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 proportionally shorter and thicker, and much
smaller in size. The first of them, the vespertine or evening
Omaloplia, is bay-brown; the wing-covers are marked with
many longitudinal shallow furrows, which, with the thorax,
are thicldy punctm-ed. This beetle varies in length from three
to four tenths of an inch. Omaloplia sericea^ the silky Oma-
loplia, closely resembles the preceding in every thing but its
color, M'hich is a very deep chestnut-brown, iridescent or
changeable like satin, and reflecting the colors of the rainbow.

All these Melolonthians are nocturnal insects, never appear-
ing, 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 observation.

One of our diurnal ]\Ielolonthians is supposed by many
natm-alists 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 cultivated and wild grape-vines, the leaves of

30 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

which it devours. During 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 gi'cenish black, margined with dull
ochre or tile-red, and thickly punctured; 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-
yelloM^, or light red. The males are sometimes entirely black,
and this variety seems to be the beetle called atrata, by Fa-
bricius. The males measure nearly, and the females rather
more than seven twentieths of an inch in length. In the year
1825, 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 exceedingly 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, they will be
found as difficult to check and extirpate as the destructive
vine-chafers of Europe.

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
belongs to the modern genus Macrodactyhis of LatreiUe.
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 twentieths of an inch in length.
Its body is slender, tapers before and behind, and is entuely
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

COLEOPTERA. 31

of the feet arc tipped with bkick, and are very long, Avhieh
caused Latreille to call the genus Macrodacti/Ius, that is long
toe, or long foot. The natural history of the rose-chafer, one
of the greatest scourges with whic-h our gardens and nurseries
have been afflicted, was for a long time involved in mystery,
but is at last fully cleared up.* 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 iun-e known. For some time after they were
first noticed, rose-bugs appeared to be confined to their favorite,
the blossoms of the rose; but within forty 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 deplorable ravages. The grape-vine in
particular, the cherry, plum, and apple trees, have annually
suffered by theur depredations; many other fruit-trees and
shrubs, garden vegetables and corn, and even the trees of the
forest and the grass of the fields, have been laid under conti-i-
bution by these indiscriminate feeders, by whom leaves, flow^ers,
and fruits are alike consumed. The unexpected arrival of
these insects in swarms, at their first coming, and their sudden
disappearance at the close of their career, are remarkable facts
in theii- 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 thii-ty in num-
ber, and are deposited from one to four inches beneath the
surface of the soil; they are nearly globular, whitish, and about

* Sec my essay in the Massachusetts Agricultural Repository and Journal,
Vol. X. p. S ; reprinted in the New England Farmer, Yol. 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,
Yol. YI. pp. 41, 49, &c. ; my Report on Insects injurious to Vegetation, in
Massachusetts House Document, No. 72, April, 1838, p. 70 ; and a communi-
cation in the New England Farmer, Vol. IX. p. 1.

32 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

one thirtieth of an inch in diameter, and are hatched twenty
days after they are laid. The young larvce begin to feed on
such tender 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 obtuse 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 ceU 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 transformed 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 body is enclosed in a
thin film, that wraps each part separately. Diuing the month
of June this filmy skin is rent, the included beetle withdraws
from it its body and its limbs, bm'sts 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 Avithin 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

COLEOPTERA. 33

subterranean retreats, and have congregated upon our vines,
trees, and other vegetable productions, in the complete enjoy-
ment 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 visitation, and should
be committed to the flames, or killed by scalding water. The
late John LoweU, Esq., states,* that in 1823 he discovered, on
a solitary apple-tree, the rose-bugs " in vast numbers, such as
could not be described, and would not be believed if they were
described, or, at least, none but aii ocular witness could con-
ceive of their numbers. Destruction by hand was out of the
question," in this case. He put sheets under the tree, and shook
them down, and burned them. Dr. Green, of Mansfield, whose
investigations 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 gath-
ering 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 this destruction, eight hun-
dred 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 ( Chryumthemum hucanthemnm)^
a worthless plant, which has come to us from Em-ope, and has
been suffered to oven*un our pastures and encroach on our
mowing lands. In certain cases it may become expedient
rapidly to mow down the infested white-weed in dry pastures,
and consume it, with the sluggish rose-bugs, on the spot.

* Massachusetts Agricultural Repository, Vol. IX. p. 145.

5

34 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

Our insect-eating birds undoubtedly devour many of these
insects, and deserve to be cherished and protected for their
services. 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 predaceous ground-beetle, preys on the grubs
of the common dor-bug. In France the golden ground-beetle
{Carabus auratus) 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 Melolonthians.

Very few of the flower-beetles are decidedly injurious to
vegetation. 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 gi'ub state, most of them eat only the crumbled sub-
stance of decayed roots and stumps ; a few 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 gi'oup called Cetoniad.e, or Cetonians.
They are easily distinguished from the other Scarabteians by
their lower jaws, which are generally 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 gi'inding plate on the inside. Their an-
tennae 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
triangular. 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

COLEOPTERA. 35

oblong oval form, somewhat flattciuxl above, and often ])ril-
llantly 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 noctnrnal beetles.
Some of them are of immense size, and have been styled the
princes of the beetle tribes; such are the Incas of South
America, and the Goliah beetle [Hegemon Goliatiis) of Guinea,
the latter being more than four inches long, two inches broad,
and thick and heavy in proportion.

Two American Cetonians must suffice as examples in this
group. The first is the Indian Cetonia, Cetonia Inda* one
of our earliest 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 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 duU red. It measures
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
transformation. At this time they may be found on the flow^ers
of the golden-rod, eating the pollen, and also in great numbers
on corn-stalks, and on the trunks of the locust-tree, feeding

* Scarabceus Indus of Linnccus, Cetonia barbata of Say.

36 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

upon the sweet sap of these plants. Fortunate would it be
for us if they fed on these only; but their love of sweets leads
them to attack our finest peaches, which, as soon as ripe, they
begin to devour, and in a very few hours entirely spoil. I have
taken a dozen of them from a single peach, into which they
had burrowed so that nothing but the naked tips of their hind-
body could be seen ; and not a ripe peach remained unbitten
by them on the tree. When touched, they leave a strong and
disagreeable scent upon the fingers. On the approach of cold
weather they disappear, but I have not been able to ascertain
w^hat 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 their larvae or grubs may live on the
roots of herbaceous plants.

The other Cetonian beetle to be described is the Osmoderma
scaber* 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 corners 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 differences between the sexes above described, it may be
mentioned that the females are generally much larger than the

* Trichius scaber, Palisot de Bcauvois ; Gymnodiis scaber, Kirby.

COLEOPTERA. 37

males, and often want tlie coppery 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 tlieinselves
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 dis-
tance of t^vo or three yards from the place of their retreat.
This strong smell suggested the name Osinodcnna, 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, feeding
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 gi*ubs 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 pre-
ceding, 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 substituted hermit. I believe that this insect lives in
forest-trees, but the larva is unknown to me.

The family Lucanid.e, or Lucanians, so named from the
Linnaean genus Lucanus, must be placed next to the Scara-
baeians 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 jaw^s, 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

* Cetonia eremicola of Knoch.

38 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

slightly convex; the head is large and broad, especially in the
males ; the thorax is short, and as wide as the abdomen ; the
antennsB are rather long, elbowed or bent in the middle, and
composed of ten joints, the last three or fom* of which are
broad, leaf-like, and project on the inside, giving 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 considerably beyond the
mouth; each of the under jaws is provided with a long hauy
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 night, 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 caterpillars 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 larvas
hatched from these eggs resemble the grubs of the Scara-
bseians 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 sawdust;
and the injury thus caused by them is frequently very consid-
erable. 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 pupse, of a yellowish
white color, having the body and all the limbs of the future
beetle encased in a whitish film, which being thrown ofi" in due
time, the insects appear in the beetle form, burst the walls of

COLEOPTERA.

39

their prison, crawl through the passages the larva; had gnawed,
and come forth on the outside of the trees.

The largest of these beetles in the New England States, was
first described by liinn^us under the name of Lucaiius Caprc-
olus* 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 sj^rter, 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. All the foregoing
beetles have, by some naturalists, been gathered into a single
tribe, called lamellicorn or leaf-horned beetles, on account of
the leaf-Uke joints wherewith the end of their antenna; is pro-
vided.

The beetles next to be described, have been brought together
into one great tribe, named serricorn or saw-horned beetles,
because the tips of the joints of their antennse usually project
more or less on the inside, somewhat like the teeth of a saw.
The beetles belonging to the family Buprestid.e, or the Bu-
prestians, have antenna; of this kind. The Buprestis 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 swelfing
as to cause the cattle to burst. Linnaeus, however, unfortu-
nately applied this name to the insects of the above-mentioned
family, none of which are poisonous to animals, and are rarely,
if ever, found upon the grass. It is in allusion to the original
signification of the word Buprestis, that popular English writers
on natural history sometimes give the name of bm-ncow to the
harmless Buprestians; while the French, with greater propriety

' * Lucanus Dama of Fabricius.

40 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

call them ric/iards, on account of the rich and brilliant colors
wherewith many of them are adorned. The Buprestians, then,
according to the Linnaean application or rather misapplication
of the name, are hard-shelled beetles, often brilliantly colored,
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 fore part of the thorax ; and the antennae are rather short,
and notcl;^d 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
little 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 conspicu-
ous ; in the Buprestians, 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 concealed 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 larvffi 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 fore part of the first
segment; the upper jaws are provided with three teeth, and

COLEOPTERA. 41

arc of a black color; and the antenna? arc very short. The
segment wliicli receives the head is short and transverse ; next
to it is a large oval segment, broader than long, and depressed
or flattened above and beneath. Behind this, the segments
are very much narrowed, and become gradually longer; but
are still flattened, to the last, which is terminated by a rounded
tubercle or wart. There arc no legs, nor any apparatus whicli
can serve as such, except two small warts on the under side of
the second segment from the thorax. The motion of the grvib
appears to be effected by the alternate contractions and elon-
gations 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 sidewise, so that the head and tail
approach each other. This posture those found under bark
usually assume. They appear to pass several years in the
larva state. The pupa bears a near resemblance 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 larvse.
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 nourish-
ment 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
6

42 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

similar to those employed against other borers, and will be
explained in a subsequent part of this essay. It may not be
amiss, however, here to remark, that woodpeckers are much
more successful in discovering the reti-eats of these borers, and
in dragging out the defenceless culprits from their burrows,
than the most skilful gardener or nurseryman.

The largest of these beetles in this part of the United States
is the Bupreslis ( Chalcophora) 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 [Primus serotina), and also the garden
cherry and peach trees, suffer severely from the attacks of borers,
which are transformed to the beetles called Buprestis [Dicerca]
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 punctures; the thorax is slightly furrowed in the middle;
the wing-covers are marked with numerous fine irregular im-
pressed 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 fm-rowed ; 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.

COLEOPTERA. 43

The borer of the hiekory has already been described. It is
transformed to a beetle which appears to be the Buprestis
(Dicerca) lurida* of Fabricius. It is of a lurid or dull brassy
color above, bright copper beneath, and thickly punctured all
over; there are numerous u-regular impressed lines, and several
narrow elevated black spots on the wing-covers, the tip of each
of which ends with two little points. It measures from aljout
six to eight tenths of an inch in length. This kind of Buprestis
appears during the greater part of the summer on the trunks
and limbs of the hickory.

Buprestis { C/iri/sobothris) dcntipes-f 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 transforma-
tions 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 Imes, 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 ( Chrijsohothris) femorata of Fabricius has the first
pair of thighs toothed beneath, lilvc the preceding, which it
resembles 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

* Buprestis obscura, F., found in the Middle and Southern States, closely
resembles the lurida.
t Buprestis characteristica, Harris. N. E. Farmer, "Vol. VIII. p. 2.

44 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

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 larva? bore into the trunks of these trees.

The Buprestis ( Chri/sobofhris)fulvog-itttata* 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 transverse 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, measur-
ing 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 smaU and broad beetle
having the form of the above, under the name of Buprestis
( Chrysobothris) Harrisii. 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
Buprestians inhabiting Massachusetts and the other New
England States. My knowledge of the habits of the others
is not sufficiently perfect to render it worth while to insert
descriptions of them here. The concealed situation of the
grubs of these beetles, in the ti'unks and limbs of trees, renders
it very difficult to discover and dislodge them. When trees

* Mr. Kirby has redescribed and figured this insect under the name of
Buprestis {Trachi/pteris) Drujumoiuli, i\\ the fourth volume of the "Fauna
Boreali- Americana."

COLEOPTERA. 45

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 (Elaterid^), 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 consistence, and is usually
rather narrow and tapering behind. The head is sunk to the
eyes in the fore part of the thorax ; the antennae are of moderate
length, and more or less notched on the inside like a saw. The
thorax is as broad at the 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 larvEB 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
slenderness and uncommon hardness. They are not to be
confounded with the American wire-worm, a species of lulus,
which is not a 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

46 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

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 ; dm-ing the greater part of which time it is supported
by devouring the roots of Avheat, rye, 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 pasture lands. We have
several gi'ubs 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 deprive 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 turnips
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 resembling 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 w^as 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 their appearance upon trees and fences, and some are

COLEOrTERA. 47

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.

The largest of our spring-beetles is the Elater {Alans) ocida-
tus, of Linnaeus. It is of a black color; the thorax is oblong
square, and nearly one third the length of the whole body,
covered above with a whitish })owder, and with a large oval
velvet-black spot, like an eye, on each side of the middle, from
which the insect derives its name ocidahis, or 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 quarters 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 larvae, 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 black-
ish, rough with little sharp-pointed warts, with a deep semicir-
cular notch at the end, and furnished around the sides with
little teeth, the tw"o hindmost of which were long, forked, and
curved upwards like hooks ; under this segment was a large
retractile fleshy prop-foot, armed behind with little claws, 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.

48 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

Elater {Pyrophoriis) noctilucm, the night-shining Elater, is
the celebrated ciicuio 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 transfor-
mations in the previous autumn. Their grubs live in wood.
The first of these beetles is the ash-colored Elater, Elater
{MeJanotus) ciiierei/s 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 fences, the trunks of trees, and in
paths, in April and May.

Elater (Melanotus) communis of Schonherr, is, as its name
implies, an exceedingly common and abundant species. It
closely resembles the preceding, but is smaller, seldom exceed-
ing 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 cinerens in April, May, and
June ; and the recently transformed beetles can also be found
in the autumn under 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 {Lvdivs) apprcssifrons of
Say. Its specific name probably refers to_ the front of the head
or visor being pressed downwards over the lip. The body is

COLEOPTERA. 49

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 nan-owed 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 slen-
der impressed l(5ngitudinal lines 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 dimensions, 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 fore-
going a description of only one more species. This is the
Elater {Agriotes) ohesus 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 du*ty 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 punc-
tured in rows. Its length is about three tenths of an inch.
This beetle closely resembles one of the kinds, which, in the
grub state, is called the wire-worm in Em-ope, 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 natm-al science its language and its laws, neglected
no opportmiity to point out its economical advantages.* On

* See the preface to Smith's " Introduction to Botany," and Pulteney's
" Tiew of the Writings of Linnaeus," for several examples, one of which it
7

50 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

one occasion this great 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 ap-
pearance 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^, 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 antennsB are short, and, from the third joint, flat-
tened, 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, narrow, nearly cylindrical, and not
so firm and hard as in the Elaters. The feet are five-jointed,
long, and slender.

The larvae of Lymexylon and Hylecce.tus are very odd-looking,
long, and slender grubs. The head is small; the first ring is

may not be amiss to mention here. Linnaeus was the first to point out the
advantages to bo derived from employing the Arundo arcnaria, 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.

COLEOPTEIIA. 51

very much hunched; and on the top of the last ring there is a
flesliy appendage, resembling a leaf in Lymexijlon, and like a
straight iiorn in Hijlecatus. They have six short legs near the
head. These grubs inhabit oak-trees, and make long cylindrical
bun-ows 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 describe only two of them. The first was obtained by
beating the limbs of some forest-tree. It may be called
Lymexijlon sericenm, the silky timber-beetle. It is of a chest-
nut-brown color above, and covered with very short shinin'g
yellowish hairs, which give it a silky lush'e. The head is
bowed down beneath the fore part 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 Hylecaetus, 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 Hylecoetus Americanus, the American
timber-beetle. Its head, thorax, abdomen, and legs are light
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 fore
part 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 eye-
lets ; the antennae resemble those of Lymexylon sericeum, but
are shorter ; the thorax is nearly square, but wider than long ;
and on each wing-cover there are three slightly elevated longi-

52 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

tudinal 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 exceed-
iifgly injurious to vegetation.

So great is the extent of the Weevil tribe,* and so imper-
fectly 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 become most known for then* depredations. Mr.
KoUar's excellent " Treatise on Insects injurious to Gardeners,
Foresters, and Farmers," contains an account of several kinds
of weevils that are unknown in this country ; and indeed but
few resembling them have hitherto been discovered here.
Should future observations lead to the detection in our gar-
dens and orchards of any hke those which in Em-ope attack
the vine, the plum, the apple, the pear, and the leaves and
stems of fruit-trees, the work of Mi-. KoUar may be consulted
with great advantage.

Weevils, in the winged state, are hard-shelled beetles, and
are distinguished from other insects by having the fore part 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 larvas or young differ
essentially from those of the true weevils. The latter belong
to a group called Rhynchophoridje, literally, snout-bearers.
These beetles are mostly of small size. Their antennae are

* See page 18.

COLEOPTERA. 53

usually knobbed at the end, and arc situated on the muzzle or
snout, on each side of which there is generally a short groove
to receive the base of the antennfc 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 w4der 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 ; bvit 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 antenna? 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 withovit legs. The covering of
their heads is a hard sheU, and the rings of their bodies are
very convex or hunched, by both of which characters they are
easily distinguished 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 can-
kered; while others penetrate into the solid wood, interrupt
the course of the sap, and occasion the branch above the seat
of attack to wither and die. Most of these grubs are trans-
formed within the vegetable substances upon which they have
lived ; some, however, when fully grown, go into the gi'ound,
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 aur, we see a little insect peeping out

54 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

of each of these holes, and waiting apparently for an oppor-
tunity 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 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 Bruchus 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 w^ord 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 the great-
weevil tribe called Bruchidje, 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 antennae are short, sti'aight, 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 described. 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
wound the skin of the tender pods of these plants, and lay
their eggs singly in the wounds. Each of the little maggot-
like grubs, hatched therefrom, perforates the pod and enters a
seed, the pulp of which suffices for its food till fully grown.

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

COLEOrTERA. 55

minute whitish grub, destitute of feet, will l)e found therein.
It is the weevil in its larva form, wliieii lives upon the marrow
of the pc^, and arrives at its full size by the time that the pea
becomes dry. This larva or grub tlien bores a round hole from
the hollow in the centre of the pea quite to the hiill,])ut leaves
the latter and generally the germ of the future sprout un-
touched. 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 frequently
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 begin-
ning to swell, the beetles gather upon them, and deposit their
tiny eggs singly in the punctures or wounds w^hich they make
upon the surface of the pods. This is done mostly during the
night, or in cloudy weather. The grubs, as soon as they are
hatched, peneti-ate the pod and bury themselves in the opposite
pease; and the holes through which they pass into the seeds
are so fine as hardly to be perceived, and are soon closed.
Sometimes every pea in a pod will be found to contain 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 diminish the weight of the pease in Avhich 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 entu-ely
leave them.f

* See Kalm's Travels. 8vo. Warrington. 1770- Vol. I. p. 173.
t See the Boston Cultivator for July 1, 1848, for an interesting account of the
habits of these insects, by Mr. S. Deane.

56 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

The pea-weevil is supposed t© 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 Mas-
sachusetts. It is yet rare in New Hampshu'e, and 1 believe
has not appeared in the eastern parts of Maine. It is unknown
in the North of Europe, as we learn from the interesting ac-
count 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 carried home from
America, having in view the whole damage which his beloved
countiy 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 oiu*
indigenous and less productive pulse, is not a matter of sur-
prise, analogous 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. LatreiUe 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 depositing its eggs ; late sown
pease therefore escape its attacks. The late Colonel Pickering
observed that those sown in Pennsylvania as late as the twen-
tieth of May, were entirely free from weevils; and Colonel
Worthington, of Rensselaer county. New York, ^vho 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

COLEOPTERA. 57

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. Tlie instinct that enables this beau-
tiful 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 tlie goodness of Providence, which has en-
dowed it with this faculty, is still fui'ther 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.

The Attelabians (Attelabid.e) are distinguished from the
Bruchians by the form and greater length of the head, which
is a little inclined, and ends with a snout, sometimes short and
thick, and sometimes long, slender, and curved. The eyes also
are round and entire ; and the antennse are usually implanted
near the middle of the snout. The larvse 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 Eiko-
pean insects of this family are known to be very injurious to
the leaves, fruits, and seeds of plants.

The different kinds of Attelahus 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 larva and habits of
our native species are unknown to me. The most common
one here is the Attelahus cuialis 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.
8

58 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

The two-spotted Attelabus, Attelabus bipustulatus of Fabri-
cius, is also found on oak-leaves during the same season as
the preceding. 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 reti-eat 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 Ri/nchites, a name
given to them in allusion to their snouts. I have not seen any
of them on vines or fruit-trees in this country. The largest
one found here is the Rynchites hicolor of Fabricius, or two-
colored Rynchites. This insect is met w^ith in June, July, and
August, on cultivated and wild rose-bushes, sometimes in
considerable numbers. That they injvire these plants is highly
probable, but the nature and extent of the injury is not cer-
tainly known. The whole of the upper side of this beetle is
red, except the rather long and slender snout, which, together
with the antennas, 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 of 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
Schonherr, 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, some-

* Apion rostrum, Say.

COLEOPTERA. 59

what like it, inhabits the pods and eats the seeds of the locust-
tree, or Robinia pseudacacia.

Naturalists place here a little group of snout-beetles, called
Brenthid.e, 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
projects 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 extremity, and the nippers are not visible to the
naked eye. The feelers are too small to be seen. The antennsB
are short, straight, slightly thickened towards the tip, and im-
planted before the prominent eyes, on the middle of the snout
in the males, and at the 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 larvas 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 {Arrhemdes) septemtrionis* of Herbst,
the northern Brenthus, so named because most of the other
species are tropical insects. It is of a mahogany-brown color;
the wing-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.

* A mistake undoubtedly for septemtrio nails. It is the Brenthus maxlllosus of
Olivier and Schonherr.

60 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

The northern 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
cylincMcal 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 discovered by the dust
around them. When fully grown, the grub measures rather
more than an inch in length, and not quite one tenth of an inch
in thickness. It is nearly cylindrical, being only a little flat-
tened on the under side, and is of a whitish color, except 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. The
last segment is of a horny consistence, and is obliquely hol-
lowed at the end, so as to form a kind of gouge or scoop, the
edges of which are furnished with little notches or teeth. It is
by means of this singular scoop that the grub shovels the
minute grains of the wood out of its burrow. The pupa is
met with in the burrow formed by the larva. It is of a yel-
lowish white color; the head is bent under the thorax, and the
snout rests on the breast between 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 bmTow when it is about to be
transformed, and may serve also to keep its body steady during
its exertions in casting off its pupae 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
they are felled ; it has also been ascertained tiiat 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 Brenthus is due
to the Rev. L. W. Leonard, of Dublin, New Hampshire, who

COLEOPTERA. 61

has favored me with specimens in all their forms. This insect
is now known to inhabit nearly all the States i}i the Union.
I am inclined to think that the Brenthians onght 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 antennje, which are bent or
elbowed near the middle, the first joint being much longer than
the rest. Then- feelers are not perceptible. They belong to
the family Curculionid.e, so called from the principal genus
CurcuUo, a name given by the Romans to the corn-weevil.
The Curculionians vary in the form, length, and direction of
their snouts. Those belonging to the old genus Oiircidio have
short and thick snouts, at the extremity of which, and near to
the sides of the mouth, the antennce are implanted; those to
which the name of Rynchcems was formerly applied have
longer and more slender snouts, usually bearing the antennas
on or just behind the middle ; and the thkd great genus, called
Calandra, contains long-snouted beetles, whose antennae are
fixed just before the eyes at the base of the snout.

CurcuUo {Pandeleteivs) 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
fmTOwed 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, CurcuUo {Hijlobius) 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 sprinlded 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

62 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

length of the snout this insect has been placed in the genus
Wiyncharms by some naturalists; but the antennte 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 abundance, 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 larvae, 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, 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 diameter, 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 above-mentioned, speci-
mens of the destructive insects referred to by Wilson. They
were of three kinds. Those in greatest abundance were the
Pales Aveevil. One of the others was a larger, darker-colored
weevil, without white spots on it, and named Hi/Iobius picworus,
by Germar and Schonherr, or the pitch-eating weevil; it is

* American Ornithology. Vol. IV. p. 21.

COLEOrTERA. 63

seldom found in Massachusetts. The third was the white pine
weevil to be next described. It is said that these beetles punc-
ture 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 larvae 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, Rhynchcetius (Pissodes) Strobi* of
Professor Peck, unites with the two preceding insects in de-
stroying the pines of this country, as above described. But it
employs also another mode of attack on the white pine, of
which an interesting account is given by the late Professor
Peck, the first describer 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 straightness 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
slibsequent growth. This accident is not uncommon, and is
caused by the ravages of the white pine weevil. This beetle
is oblong oval, rather slender, of a brownish color, thickly
punctm-ed, 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, slender, 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
deposited on the leading shoot of the pine, probably immedi-
ately under the outer bark. The larvae, hatched therefrom,

* Pissodes nemorensis of Germar.

64 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

bore into the shoot in various directions, and probably remain
in the wood more than one year. When 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 unlimited increase
is not permitted to this destructive insect; and that if it were,
our forests would not produce a single mast. One of the
Vneans appointed to restrain the increase of the white pine
weevil is a species of ichneumon-fly, endued with sagacity to
discover the retreat of the larva, the body of which it stings,
and therein deposits an egg. From the latter a grub is hatched,
which devours the larva of the weevil, and is subsequently
transformed 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
perceived 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 fouild
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 cov-
ered with the beetles, which may be shaken into a cloth and
burned.

COLEOPTERA. 65

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 Balaninvs, a name that
signifies living or being in a nut. The common nut-weevil of
Europe lays her eggs in the hazel-nut and filbert, having pre-
viously 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 afterw^ards makes its escape, and burrows in
the ground. Here it remains unchanged through the winter,
and in the following summer, having completed its transfor-
mations, 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 common of
the nut-weevils known to me appears to be the Rhynchcewus
(Balaninvs) nasicus 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 hau's, which more or less
conceal its original color, and are disposed in spots on its wing-
covers. The snout is brown and polished, longer than the
whole body, as slender as a bristle, of equal thickness from one
end to the other, and slightly curved ; it bears the long elbowed
antennas, 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. Specimens have been found paired
upon the hazel-nut tree in July, at which time probably the
eggs are laid. Others appear in September and October, and
must pass the winter concealed in some secure place. From
its size and resemblance to the nut-weevil of Europe, this is
supposed to be the species which attacks the hazel-nut here.

It is now well known that the falling of unripe plums is
caused by little whitish grubs, which bore into the fruit. The
loss, occasioned by insects of this kind, is frequently very great ;
9

66 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

and, in some of our gardens and orchards, the crop of plums
is often entirely ruined by the depredations of the grubs, which
have been ascertained to be the larvae or young of a small
beetle of the weevil tribe, called Jlht/nchcEnus ( Conotrachelus)
Nenuphar* the Nenuphar or plum-weevil. This weevil, or
cwculio, as it is often called, is a little rough, dark brown, or
blackish beetle, looking like a dried bud, when it is shaken
from the trees, which resemblance is increased by its habit of
drawing up its legs and bending its snout close to the lower
side of its body, and remaining for a time without motion,
and seemingly lifeless. It is 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. Its color is a dark brow^n, varie-
gated 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 con-
siderable 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. 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 begin to sting the plums as soon as the fruit is set, and
continue their operations to the middle of July, or, as some
say, till the first of August. In doing this, the beetle first
makes a small crescent-shaped incision, with its snout, in the
skin of the plum, and then, turning round, inserts an egg in
the w^ound. From one plum it goes to another, until its store
of eggs is exhausted ; so that, where these beetles abound, not
a plum will escape being stung. Very rarely is there more
than one incision made in the same fruit ; and the weevil lays
only a single egg therein. The insect hatched from this egg is

* First described by Herbst, in 1797, under the name of Curculio Nenuphar ;
Fabricius redescrlbed it under that of Rhynchcenus Argula; and Dejean has
named it Conotrachelus variegatus.

COLEOPTERA. 67

a little whitish grub, destitute of feet, and very much like a
maggot in appearance, except that it has a distinct, rounded,
light brown head. It immediately burrows obliquely into the
fruit, and finally penetrates to the stone. The irritation,
arising from the wounds and from the gnawings of the grubs,
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 falling of the fruit, quits
the latter and burrows in the ground. This may occur at
various times between the middle of June and of August;
and, in about three weeks afterwards, the insect completes its
transformations, and comes out of the ground in the beetle
form.

The earliest account of the habits of the plum-weevil, that
I have seen, was wTitten by Dr. James Tilton, of "Wilmington,
Delaware. It will be found, under the article Fruit, in Dr.
James Mease's edition of WiUich's " Domestic EncyclopEedia,"
published at Philadelphia in 1803. The same account has
been reprinted in the " Georgick Papers for 1809" of the Mas-
sachusetts Agricultural Society, and in other works. Accord-
ing to Dr. Tilton, this insect attacks not only nectarines, plums,
apricots, and cherries, but also peaches, apples, pears, and
quinces, the truth of which has been abundantly confirmed by
later writers. I have myself ascertained that the cherry-ivorm,
so called, which is very common in this fruit when gathered
from the tree, produces, at maturity, the same curcuHo as that
of the plum ; but, unlike the latter, it rarely causes the stung
cherry to drop prematurely to the ground. The late Dr. Joel
Burnet, of Southborough, the author of two interesting articles
on the plum-weevil,* sent to me, in the summer of 1839, some
specimens of the insect, in the chrysalis state, which were
raised from the small grubs in apples ; and, since that time, I
have seen the same grubs in apples, pears, and quinces, in this

* New England Farmer, Vol. XVIII, p. 304, March 11, 1840; and Hovey's
Magazine of Horticulture, Vol. IX. p. 281, August, 1843, reprinted in the New
England Farmer, Vol. XXII, p. 49, August 16, 1843, and in the Transactions of
the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, for 1843-1846, p. 18.

68 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

vicinity. They are not to be mistaken for the more common
apple-worms, from which they are easily distinguished by their
inferior size, and by their want of feet. In 1831, Mr. Thomas
Say, in a note on the plum-weevil, stated that it " depredates
on the plmn and peach and other stone-fruits ;" and, that his
" kinsman, the late excellent Wm. Bartram, informed him it
also destroys the English walnut in this country."*

Observers do not agree concerning some points in the econo-
my of this insect, such as the time required for it to complete
its transformations, the condition and place wherein it passes
the winter, and the agency of the curculio in producing the
warts or excrescences on plum and cherry trees. The average
time passed by the insect in the ground, during the summer,
has appeared to me to be about three weeks ; but the transfor-
mation may be accelerated or retarded by temperature and
situation. It has also been my impression that the late broods
remained in the ground all winter, and that from them are
produced the beetles which sting the fruit in the following
spring. Dr. Burnet's observations coincide with this opinion.
According to him, the insect "undergoes transformation in
about fifteen or twenty days, in the month of June or fore part
of July; but all the larvse (as far as he had observed), that go
into the earth as late as the 20th of July, do not ascend that
season, but remain there in the pupa stage until next spring."
Dr. Tilton, in his account of the curculio, stated that "it re-
mains in the earth, in the form of a grub, during the winter,
ready to be metamorphosed into a beetle as the spring ad-
vances." According to M. H. Simpson, Esq., of Saxonville,
the larva?, or grubs, " go through their chrysalis state in three
weeks after going into the ground, and remain in a torpid state
through the season, unless the earth is disturbed."! Dr. E.
Sanborn, of Andover, has come to entirely different conclu-
sions, from a series of experiments made upon these insects. It
is his opinion that they do not remain in the ground, during
the winter, either in the grub or in the beetle state ; but that,

* Descriptions of Curculionites, p. 19. 8vo. New Harmony, 1831.
t Hovcy's Magazine, Vol. XVI, p. 257, June, 1850.

COLEOP-lfERA. 69

nndor all conditions of place and temperature, "in about six
weeks" after they have entered the earth " they return to the
siu-face perfectly finished, winged, and equipped for the work
of destruction ;" and that, " as neither the curculio nor its grab
burrows in the ground during the winter, the common practice
of guarding against its ravages, by various operations in the
soil, rests upon a false theory, and is productive of no valuable
results."* If these conclusions be con-ect, these insects must
pass the winter, above ground, in the beetle state, and the
place of their concealment, during this season, remains to be
discovered.

In July, 1818, Professor W. D. Peck obtained, from the warty
excrescences of the cherry-tree, the same insects that he " had
long known to occasion the fall of peaches, apricots, and
plums, before they had acquired half their growth ;" and, not
aware that this species had already received a scientific name,
he called it Rhj/nchcenus Cerasi, the cherry-weevil. His ac-
count of it, with a figure, may be seen in the fifth volume of
the "Massachusetts Agricultural Repository and Jom-nal."
The grubs, found by Professor Peck in the tumors of the
cherry-tree, went into the ground on the sLxth of July, and on
the thirtieth of the same month, or twenty-fom days from
their leaving the bark, the perfect insects began to rise, and
were soon ready to deposit their eggs.

The plum, still more- than the cherry tree, is subject to a dis-
ease of the small limbs, that shows itself in the form of large
irregular warts, of a black color. Professor Peck referred this
disease, as well as that of the cherry-tree, to the agency of
insects, but was uncertain whether to attribute it to his cherry-
weevil " or to another species of the same genus." It was his
opinion 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

* See Dr. Sanborn's interesting communications on the Plum Curculio, in the
Boston Cultivator, for May 19, 1849, and July 13, 1850, and in the Puritan
Kecorder, for May 2, and the Cambridge Chronicle for May 30, 1850.

70 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

lumps, with a cracked, uneven, granulated surface. The wood,
besides being deprived of its nutriment, is very much com-
pressed, and the branch above the tumor perishes." Dr. Burnet
rejected the idea of the insect origin of this disease, which he
considered as a kind of fungus, arising in the alburnum, from
an obstruction of the vessels, and bursting through the bark,
which became involved in the disease. These tumors appear
to me to begin between the bark and wood. They are at first
soft, cellular, and full of sap, but finally become hard and
woody. But whether caused by vitiated sap, as Dr. Burnet
supposed, or by the irritating punctures of insects, which is the
prevailing opinion, or whatever be their origin and seat, they
form an appropriate bed for the growth of numerous little
parasitical plants or fimg-i, to which botanists give the name
of Sphmria morbosa. These plants are the minute black gran-
ules that cover the surface of the wart, and give to it its black
color. When fully matured, they are filled with a gelatinous
fluid, and have a little pit or depression on their summit.
They come to their growth, discharge their volatile seed, and
die in the course of a single summer ; and with them perishes
the tumor whence they sprung. It is worthy of remark that
they are sure to appear on these warts in due time, and that
they are never found on any other part of the tree.

Insects are often found in the warts of the plum-tree, as
well as in those of the cherry-tree. The larvae of a minute
Ci/nips, or gall-fly, is said to inhabit them,f but have never
fallen under my observation. The naked caterpillars of a
minute moth are very common in the warts of the plum-tree,
in which also are sometimes found other insects, among them
little grubs from which genuine plum-weevils have been raised.
This is a very interesting fact in the economy of the plum-
weevil. It may be questioned, however, whether it be a mere
mistake of instinct that leads the curculio to lay its eggs in
the warts of the plum-tree, or a special provision of a wise
Providence to secure thereby a succession of the species in
unfruitful seasons.

t Schweinitz, Synopsis Fungorum ; in Trcinsactions of the American Philo-
sophical Society, Philadelphia. New Series, Vol. IV. p. 204.

COLEOPTERA.

71

The following, among other remedies that have been sug-
gested, 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 tliat 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 iiy 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.
Keeping the fruit covered with a coat of whitewash, which
is to be applied with a syringe as often as necessary, has been
much reconunended of late to repel the attacks of the cm-culio.
A little glue, added to the whitewash, causes it to stick better
and last longer. We may succeed by this remedy in securing
a crop of plums ; but as we cannot apply it to cherries and
apples, they will be sure to sutler more than ever, and hence
no check will be given to the increase of the weevil. All the
fallen fruit should be immediately gathered and thrown into a
tight vessel, and after they are boiled or steamed to kill the
enclosed grubs, they may be given as food to swine. Many
of the grubs will be found in the bottom of the vessel in which
the fallen fruit has been deposited. Not one of these should
be allowed to escape to the ground, but they should all be
killed before they have ,time to complete their transformations.
The diseased excrescences on the trees should be cut out, and
as they often contain insects, they should be burnt. If the
wounds are washed with strong brine, the formation of new
warts will be checked. The moose plum-ti-ee {Prunvs Ameri-
cana) seems to be free from warts, even when gi'owing in the
immediate vicinity of diseased foreign trees. It would, there-
fore, be the best of stocks for budding or engrafting upon. It
can be easily raised from the stone, and grows rapidly, but
does not attain a great size.

Among the many insects that have been charged with being
the cause of the wide-spread pestilence, commonly called the
potato-rot, there is a kind of weevil that lives in the stalk of
the potato. The history of this little insect was first made

12 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

knowji by Miss Margaretta H. Morris, of Germantown, Penn-
sylvania. In August, 1849, her attention was called to this
subject by Mr. Williamson, the principal of the Mount Airy
Agricultural Institute, "who discovered small gi'ubs in the
potato-vines on his farm, and naturally feared injurious con-
sequences." On the 28th of the same month and year. Miss
Morris sent to me some specimens of the insects in a piece of
the potato stalk, wherein they underwent their transformations.
They proved to be the beetles, described by Mr. Say under the
name of Baridms trinotatiis, so called from their having three
black dots on their backs. This kind of beetle is about three
twentieths of an inch long. Its body is covered with short
whitish haks, which give to it a gray appearance. One of
the black dots is on the scutel, and the others are on the hinder
angles of the thorax ; and, by these, it can be readily distin-
guished from other species. According to Miss Morris, it lays
its eggs singly on the plant at the base of a leaf. The grubs
bun-ow into and consume the inner substance of the stalk,
proceeding downwards towards the root. In many fields, in
the neighborhood of Germantown, every stem was found to
be infested by these insects, causing the premature decay of
the vines, and giving to them the appearance of having been
scalded. The insects undergo all their transformations in the
stalks. Their pupa state lasts from fourteen to twenty days,
and they take the beetle form during the last of August and
beginning of September. These insects, though common
enough in the Middle States, I have never found in New
England, in the course of thirty years of observation, and have
failed to discover them here since my attention was called to
their depredations by Miss IMorris. That they may become
very injurious to the potato crop where they abound, will be
readily admitted ; but, as they do not occur either in all places
here or in Europe, where the potato-rot has prevailed, they
cannot be justly said to produce this disease.*
The most pernicious of the Rhynchophorians, or snout-beetles,

* See my communication on this insect, &c., in the New England Farmer, for
June 22, 1850, Vol. H. p. 204.

COLEOPTERA. 73

arc the insects properly called grain-weevils, belonging to the
old genus Calandra. These insects must not be confounded
witli the still more destructive larva; of the corn-moth ( Tinea
granella)., which also attacks stored grain, nor with the orange-
colored maggots 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 belonging to them has often been misapplied
in this country, thereby creating no little confusion, some
remarks upon them may tend to prevent future mistakes.

The true gi-ain-weevil or wheat-weevil of Europe, Calandra
( Sitophilus) g-ranaria, or Cnrcidio granarius of Linnaeus, 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
downwards, a coarsely punctured and very long thorax, con-
stituting almost one half the length of the whole body, and
wing-covers that are furrowed and do not entirely cover the
tip of the abdomen. This little insect, both in the beetle and
grub state, devours stored wheat and other grains, and often
commits much havoc in granaries and brewhouses. Its powers
of multiplication are very great, for it is stated that a single
pan- of these destroyers may produce above six thousand de-
scendants in one year. The female 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 theii- eggs for another brood. These
insects are eflfectually 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.

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,
10

74 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

measuring only about one tenth of an inch in length, exclusive
of the snout. This beetle, the Calandra ( SUophilus) Oryzce*
or rice-weevil, is not entirely confined to rice, but depredates
upon wheat, and also on Indian corn. In the Southern States
it is called t/ic black weevil, to distinguish it from other insects
that infest grain. I am not aware that these weevils attack
wheat in New England ; but 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 pro-
ductions. 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 protected 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 gar-
ners. 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, however, the rice
well seeded for a future harvest of weevil-grubs. In due time
the eggs are hatched, the grubs live securely and unseen in the
centre of the rice, devouring a considerable portion of its sub-
stance, and when fully grown they gnaw a little hole through
the end of the grain, artfully stopping it up again with parti-
cles 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 then should 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

* Curculio OryzcB of Linnceus.

COLEOrTERA. 75

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 jcinds come forth to tiy their wings, and, with an un-
certain and heavy flight, launch into the air. Among these
beetles there are many of a dull red or fox color, nearly cylin-
drical 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 build-
ings, resting on the tops of fences, or wheeling about in the
air, and every now and then suddenly 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 then-
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 limbs, 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 cylin-
drical 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 depredations interrupt the descent of the sap, and pre-

76 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

vent the formation of new wood; the bark becomes loosened
from the wood, to a greater or less extent, and the tree lan-
guishes and prematurely decays. The name of this insect is
Hi/Iurg-us terebrans* the boring Hylm-gus ; the generical name
signifying a carpenter, or worker in wood. It belongs to the
family Scolytid^e, including various kinds of destructive in-
sects, which may be called cylindrical bark-beetles. The
insects of this family may be recognized by the following
characters. The body is nearly cylindrical, obtuse before and
behind, and generally of some shade of brown. The head is
rounded, sunk pretty deeply in the fore part of the thorax, and
does not end with a snout; the antennae are short, 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 folloAving part of the body. The wing-covers are
frequently cut off obliquely or hollowed at the hinder extremity.
The legs are short and strong, with little teeth on the outer
edge or exti-emity of the shanks, and the feet are not wide and
spongy beneath.

Though these cylindrical bark -beetles are of small size, 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 appearance in the pine-trees of one of the mining
districts 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 sub-
ject 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 Scolytus de-
structor^ of which an interesting account was ^vritten in 1824,
by Mr. Macleay. An abstract of his paper may be found in

* Scolytus terebrans of Olivier.

COLEOPTERA. 77

the lifth volume of the " New England Farmer." * The larvae
or grubs of these bark-beetles resemble those of the Hijlurg^s
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 Hplu?-g-ns 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 be-
come more elevated towards the hinder part, and are arranged
in longitudinal rows, with little furrows between them. The
tooth-like appearance of these little elevations suggested the
name given to this species. The female bores a cylindrical
passage beneath 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 laid. The grubs hatched from
these proceed in feeding nearly at right angles, forming on
each side numerous parallel 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 more, 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 accovmt of the hollowed and bitten appearance of
the end of its wing-covers. Its grubs eat zigzag and wavy

♦ Page 169.

78 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

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
preceding, 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.

There is another small bark-beetle, the Tomicus liminaris of
my Catalogue, which has been found, in great numbers, by
Miss Morris, under the bark of peach-trees, affected with the
disease called the yelloivs, and hence supposed by her to be
connected with this malady.* I have found it under the bark
of a diseased elm ; but have nothing more to offer, from my
own observations, concerning its history, except that it com-
pletes its transformations in August and September. It is of
a dark brown color; the thorax is punctured, and the wing-
eovers are marked with deeply punctured furrows, and are
beset with short hairs. It does not average one tenth of an
inch in length.

The pear-tree in New England 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 discolor-
ation of the bark of one or more of the limbs, followed by the
immediate death of the part affected. This kind of blight, as
it has been called, being oftenest confined to a single branch,
or to the extremity of a branch, seems to be a local affection
only. It ends with the death of the branch, down to a certain
point, but does not extend below the seat of attack, and does
not affect the health of other parts of the tree. In June, 1816,

* See Miss Morris on the Yellows, in Downing's Horticulturist. Vol. IV. p.
g02.

COLEOPTERA. "79

the Hon. John Lowell, of Roxbury, discovered a minute insect
in one of the affected limbs of a pear-tree ; afterwards, he re-
peatedly detected the same insects in blasted limbs, and his
discoveries have been confirmed by INIr. Henry Wheeler and
the late Dr. Oliver Fiske, of Worcester, and by many other
persons. Mr. Lowell submitted the limb and the insect con-
tained 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 albvirnum 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 com'se 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 circulation is cut off". This takes place when
the increasing heat of the atmosphere, producing a greater
transpiration from the leaves, renders a large and continued
flow of sap necessary to supply the evaporation. For the
want of this, or from some other unexplained 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 changed to a pupa, and subsequently 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 pro-
bably deposits its eggs before August has passed. This insect,
which may be called the blig-ht-beetle, from the injury it occa-
sions, attacks also apple, apricot, and plum trees, though less
frequently than pear-trees. In the latter part of May, 1843, a
piece of the blighted hmb of an apple-tree was sent to me for
examination. It was twenty eight inches in length, and three
quarters of an inch in diameter at the lower end. Its surface
bore the marks of twenty buds, thirteen of which were perfo-

80 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

rated by the insects; and, from the burrows within, I took
t\velve of the blight-beetles in a living and perfect condition;
the thirteenth insect having previously been cut out. On the
ninth of July, 1844, the Hon. M. P. Wilder sent to me a piece
of a branch from a plum-tree, which contained, within the
space of one foot, four nests or branching burrows, in each of
which several insects in the grub and chrysalis state were
found, and also one that had completed its transformations.
Soon afterwards I caught one of the blight-beetles on a plum-
tree, probably about to lay her eggs. In the following month
of August, I received a blighted branch of an apricot-tree, one
inch in diameter at the largest end, and containing, within the
short distance of six inches, seven or eight perfect blight-beetles,
each in a separate burrow, and vestiges of other burrows that
had been destroyed in cutting the branch.* This little beetle,
which is only one tenth of an inch in length, was named Sco-
Ij/tus Pi/ri, the pear-tree Scolytus, by Professor Peck. It is of
a deep brown color, with the antennae and legs of the color of
iron-rust. The thorax is short, very convex, rounded and rough
before; the wing-covers are minutely punctured in rows, and
slope off very suddenly and obliquely behind; 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. This insect cannot be retained
in the genus Scolytus, as defined by modern naturalists, but is
to be placed in the genus Tomicus. The minuteness of the
insect, the difficulty 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

* See my communications on these insects in the Massachusetts Ploughman
for June 17, 1843. Also Downing's Horticulturist for Feb. 1848, Vol. II. p. 365^

i

COLEOPTERA. 81

remedy, suggested by Mr. Lowell and Professor Peck, to pre-
vent other limbs and trees from being subsequently attacked
in the same way, consists in cutting otf the blasted limb beloiv
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 formerly included among the cylindrical bark-beetles, but
have been separated from them recently, and now form the
family Bostrichid-e, 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 fore part of it. The antennse
are of moderate length, and end with three large joints, which
are saw-toothed internally. The larvae are mostly wood-eaters,
and are whitish fleshy grubs, WTinkled on the back, furnished
with six legs, and resemble in form the grubs of some of the
small Scarabseians. The shagbark or walnut tree is sometimes
infested by the grubs of the red-shouldered Apate, or Apate
hasillaris of Say, an insect of this family. The grubs bore
diametrically through the trunks of the walnut to the very
heart, and undergo their transformations in the bottom of their
burrows. Several trees have fallen under my observation which
have been 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 exca-
vated 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 mea-
sures one fifth of an inch or more in length.
11

82 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

The most powerful and destructive of the wood-eating
insects are the grubs of the long-horned or Capricorn-beetles
(Cerambycid.e), called borers by way of distinction. There
are many kinds of borers which do not belong to this tiibe.
Some of them have already been described, and others will be
mentioned under the orders to which they belong. Those now
under consideration differ much from each other in their habits.
Some live altogether 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 differing essentially from each other in their
natural characters. As might be expected from these circum-
stances, 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 dis-
covered. The Capricorn-beetles agree in the following respects.
The antenna? are long and tapering, and generajlly curved like
the horns of a goat, which is the origin of the name above
given to these beetles. The body is oblong, approaching to a
cylindrical form, a little flattened above, and tapering some-
what behind. The head is short, and armed with powerful
jaws. The thorax is either square, barrel-shaped, or naiTowed
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, 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 antenna. Moreover they are provided with a
jointed tube at the end of the body, capable of being extended

COLEOrTERA. 83

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 larvae hatched from these eggs are long, whitish, ileshy
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 downwards, of a horny consistence, and is pro-
vided with short but very powerful jaws, by means whereof
the insect can bore, as with a centre-bit, a cylindrical passage
through the most solid wood. Some of these borers have sbc
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 alternate exten-
sion 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 designed 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, they cast
their chips, resembling coarse sawdust; 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
live from one year to three, or perhaps more years before they
come to their growth. They undergo thek transformations at
the furthest extremity of their burrows, many of them pre-
viously 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 aU 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 antennsB are turned back
against the sides of the body, and 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

84 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

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, Cerambi/x, and Leptura
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 antennae, and smaller
jaws; and are often variegated in their colors. The beetles
belonging to the third family are readily distinguished by their
eyes, which are round and prominent. These three families
are divided into many smaller groups and genera, the peculi-
arities of which cannot be particularly pointed out in a work
of this kind.

The Prionians, or Prionid.e, derive their name from a Greek
word signifying a saw, which has been applied to them either
because the antennae, in most of these beetles, consists of flat-
tened 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 tro-
pical 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 Capri-
corn-beetles, and are provided with six very short legs. When
about to be transformed, they coUect a quantity of their chips
around them, and make therewith an oval pod or cocoon, to
enclose themselves.

Our largest species is the broad-necked Prionus, Prionus
laticollis* of Drury, its first describer. It is of a long oval
shape and of a pitchy black color. The jaws, though short,
are very thick and strong; the antennae are stout and saw-

* Prionus brevicornis of Fabricius.

COLEOPTERA. 85

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 frequently 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, Priormsmiicolor* of Diury, inhabits
pine-trees. Its body is long, narrow, and flattened, of a light
bay-brown color, with the head and antenuGB darker. The
thorax is very short, and armed on each side 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 measures 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, Cerambvcid.e, of the tribe to
which it belongs. The Cerambycians have not the very promi-
nent 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 preceding 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 little thorns at

* P. cylindricus of Fabricius.

86 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

the tip, and by the great length of their antennae, belong to
the genus Stenocorvs, a name signifying narrow or straitened.
One of them, which is rare here, inhabits the hickory, in its
larva state forming long galleries in the trunk of this tree in
the direction of the fibres of the wood. This beetle is the
Stenocorus ( Cerasphorus) cinctus* 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 antennse of the
males are more than twice the length of the body, which
measm-es 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 discovered 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 his-
tory of this insect was first made public by Professor Peck,f
who called it the oak-pruner, or Stenocorus [Elaphidion) putator.
In its adult state 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 penetrates at that spot to the pith, and then continues

* Ceramhyx cinctus, Drury ; Stenocorus garganicus, Fabricius.

t Massachusetts Agricultural Repository and Journal. Vol. V., Tvith. a plate.

COLEOPTERA. 8f

its course towards the body of the tree, devouring the pith, and
thereby forming a cylinckical burrow, several inehes in length,
in the centre 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,
oflensive 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 CaUidium, a name of un-
known or obscure origin. Their antennaB are of moderate
length ; they have a somewhat flattened body ; the head nods
forward, as in Stenocorifs ; 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 larva? are of moderate length, more flattened
than the grubs of the other Capricorn-beetles, have a very
broad and horny head, small but powerful jaws, and are pro-
vided with sLx 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 lum-
ber composing which they may happen to be concealed. Their

88 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

burrows are wide and not cylindrical, are very winding, and
are filled up with a kind of compact sawdust 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.
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 CaUidium found here is
a flatfish, rusty black beetle, with some downy whitish spots
across the middle of the wing-covers ; the thorax is nearly cir-
cular, is covered with fine whitish down, and has two elevated
polished black points upon it; and the wing covers are very
coarsely punctured. It measiu-es from four tenths to three
quarters of an inch in length. This insect is the CaUidium
bajulus ; 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 lum-
ber, and may often be seen on wooden buildings and fences in
July and August. We are informed 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 penetrating
through sheets of lead which covered the place of their exit.
One piece of lead, only eight inches long and four broad, con-
tained 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 probably first brought to this country by vessels from
Europe.

The violet CaUidium, CaUidium violacetim* 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,

* Cerambyx violaceus of Linnseus.

COLEOPTERA. 89

where their broad and winding tracks may bo traced by the
hardened sawdust 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 is
found in most parts of that continent that have been much
connected with North America by navigation. Thus Europe
and America seem to have 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
account 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 transformations of these borers. In the summer of 1828,
his attention was called to some young maples, in Keene,
which were in a languishing 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. The beetle was first described in 1824, in the Appen-
dix to Keating's " Narrative of Long's Expedition," by Mr.
Say, who called it Clytiis speciosus ; that is, the beautiful
Clytus. It was afterwards inserted, and accurately repre-
sented by the pencil of Lesueur, in Say's " American Entomo-
logy," and, more recently, a description and figure of it has
12

90 INSECTS INXUmOUS TO VEGETATION.

appeared in Griffith's translation of Cuvier's " Animal King-
dom," under the name of Clytus Haijii. 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 transverse yellow spots on each side; the
wing-covers, for about two thuds 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 yellow curved band or arch, of
Avhich the yellow scutel forms the key-stone, on the base of
the w^ing-covers, behind this a zigzag yellow band forming the
letter W, across the middle another yellow band arching back-
wards, 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 w^ood, up and down the ti'unk.
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
pollen, which they devour. During the month of September,
the painted Clytus, Clytus pictus* is often seen in abundance,
feeding by day upon the blossoms of the golden-rod. If the
trunks of our common locust-tree, Robi?iia pseudacacia, are
examined at this time, a still greater number of these beetles

* Leptura picta, Drury ; Clytus flexuosus, Fabricius.

COLEOPTERA. 91

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 Foster, who then described it
imder the name of Leptnra Rohinioe, the latter being derived
from the tree which it inhabits. Drury, however, had pre-
viously described and figured it, under the specific name here
adopted, which, having the priority, in point of time, over all
the others that have been subsequently imposed, must be
retained. This Capricorn-beetle has the form of the beautiful
maple Clytus. It is velvet-black, and ornamented with trans-
verse 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 inter-
rupted by a longitudinal elevated line; and the sixth is arched,
and consists of three little 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 sunbeams
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, accom-
panied by a creaking sound, indicative of recognition or defi-
ance. Having paired, the female, attended by her partner,
creeps over the bark, searching the crevices with her antenna?,
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 Avinter, 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

92 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

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 sawdust 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 tumors, caused by the efforts of
the trees to repau* 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 pupsB,
and are changed to beetles and leave the trees early in Sep-
tember. Thus the existence of this species is limited to one
year.

Whitewashing, and covering the trunks of the trees with
grafting composition, may prevent the female from depositing
her eggs upon them ; but this practice cannot be carried to any
great extent in plantations or large nurseries of the trees. Per-
haps 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 employing children to collect the beetles while
in the act of providing for the continuation of their kind. A
common black bottle, containing a little water, would be a
suitable vessel to receive the beetles as fast as they were gath-
ered, 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 succession. 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 few years, rid
ourselves of this destructive insect.

* Massachusetts Agricultural Kepository and Journal, Vol. VI. p. 272.

COLEOPTERA.

The largest Capricorn-beetle, of the Cerambycian family,
found in New England, is the Lamia [Monnhammus) tiliUator
of Fabricius, 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 antenna?, and showing the eagerness of
the contest or pursuit by their rapid creaking sounds.

The head of the Lamias is vertical or perpendicular; the
antennae 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 Eiu-ope and America, are
subject to the attacks of certain kinds of borers, differing
essentially from all the foregoing when amved at maturity.
They belong to the genus Saperda. In the beetle state the
head is vertical, the antenna? 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 because 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

94 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

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 irregvilar 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 destroyed the Lomb'ardy
poplar in this vicinity. They live also in the trunks of our
American poplars. They are of a yellowish white color, ex-
cept 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 behind, and
consists of twelve segments separated from each other by 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 vari-
ous kinds of poplars, in August and September; they fly by
night, and sometimes enter the open windows of houses in the
evening.

The borers of the apple-tree have become notorious, through-
out the New England and Middle States, for their extensive
ravages. They are the larvae of a beetle called Saperda bivit-
tata* by ]VIr. Say, the two-striped, or the brown and white
striped Saperda; the upper side of its body being marked
with two longitudinal white 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

* Saperda Candida ? Fabricius.

COLEOPTERA. W

tree in search of companions and food. In the daytime it
keeps at rest among the leaves of the plants which it devours.
The trees and shrubs principally attacked by this borer, are
the apple-tree, the quince, mountain ash, hawthorn and other
thorn bushes, the June-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 larvie 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, dm-ing the night. The larvce 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 fmnished, on the upper and under
side, with two fleshy warts situated close together, and desti-
tute of the little rasp-like teeth, 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 cylindrical 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 covered only by, the bark. Here its transformation takes
place. The pupa does not differ much from other pupse 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 burrow, and comes out of its place of
confinement in the night.

96 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

Notwithstanding the pains that have been taken by some
persons 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 Saperda. 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. K
a little camphor be previously inserted, this practice promises
to be more effectual ; but experiments are wanting to confirm
its expediency.

The coated Saperda, or Saperda vestita, described by Mi-. Say
in the Appendix to Keating's Narrative of Major Long's Expe-
dition, resembles the foregoing species in form. It measures
from six to eight tenths of an inch in length; it is entirely
covered with a close greenish yellow down or nap, and has two
or three small black dots near the middle of each wing-cover.
Mr. Say discovered it near the southern extremity of Lake
Michigan, and states that it is also sometimes found in Penn-
sylvania ; but he does not appear to have known anything of
its history. It is also found in Massachusetts, but has been
rarely seen, until within a few years. One of my specimens
was taken in Milton above twenty years ago, and several
others were taken in Cambridge, during the summers of 1843

COLEOrXERA. 97

and 1844, upon the European lindens, from the trunks and
branches of which they had just come forth. A knowledge of
the habits of this insect might have led to its more frequent
discovery. One of the lindens, above named, was a noble and
venerable tree, with a trunk measuring eight feet and five
inches in circumference, three feet from the ground. A strip
of the l)ark, two feet wide at the bottom, and extending to the
top of the trunk, had been destroyed, and the exposed surface
of the wood was pierced and grooved with countless numbers
of holes, wherein the borers had been bred, and whence swarms
of the beetles must have issued in past times. Some of the
large limbs and a portion of the top of the tree had fallen,
apparently in consequence of the ravages of these insects ; and
it is a matter of surprise that this fine linden should have with-
stood and outlived the attacks of such a host of miners and
sappers.

The lindens of Philadelphia have suffered much more se-
verely from these borers. Dr. Paul Swift, in a letter wTitten
in May, 1844, gave to me the following interesting account of
them. " The trees in Washington and Independence squares
were first observed to have been attacked about seven years
ago. Within two years, it has been found necessary to cut
down forty-seven European lindens in the former square alone,
where there now remain only a few American lindens, and
these a good deal eaten." " Many of the beetles were found
upon the small branches and leaves on the twenty-eighth day
of May, and it is said that they come out as early as the first
of the month, and continue to make their way through the
bark of the trunk and large branches during the whole of the
warm season. They immediately fly into the top of the tree,
and there feed upon the epidermis of the tender twigs, and the
petioles of the leaves, often wholly denuding the latter, and
causing the leaves to fall. They deposit their eggs, two or
three in a place, upon the trunk and branches, especially about
the forks, making slight incisions or punctures, for their recep-
tion, with then- strong jaws. As many as ninety eggs have
been taken from a single beetle. The grubs, hatched from
these eggs, undermine the bark to the extent of six or eight
13

98 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

inches, in sinuous channels, or penetrate the solid wood an
equal distance. It is supposed that three years are required
to mature the insect. Various expedients have been tried to
arrest their course, but without effect. A stream, thrown into
the tops of the trees from the hydrant, is often used with good
success to dislodge other insects ; but the borer-beetles, when
thus disturbed, take wing and hover over the trees till all is
quiet, and then alight and go to work again. The trunks and
branches of some of the trees have been washed over with
various preparations without benefit. Boring the trunk near the
ground, and putting in sulphur and other drugs, and plugging,
have been tried with as little effect."

This beetle I have taken in Massachusetts only in June,
mostly between the first and seventeenth, and none after the
twentieth day of the month. The grub closely resembles that
of the apple-tree borer. Figures of the insect, in all its stages,
may be seen in the tenth volume of Hovey's Magazine, page
330.

There is another destructive Sapo'da, whose history remains
to be written. It is the Saperda tridentata, so named by
Olivier on account of the tridentate or three-toothed red bor-
der of its wing-covers. This beetle is of a dark brown color,
with a tint of gi*ay, owing to a thin coating of very short down.
It is ornamented with a curved line behind the eyes, two stripes
on the thorax, and a three-toothed or three-branched stripe on
the outer edge of each wing-cover, of a rusty red color. There
are also six black dots on the thorax, two above, and two on
the sides; and each of the angles between the branches and
the lateral stripes of the w^ing-covers is marked with a blackish
spot. The two hinder branches are oblique, and extend nearly
or quite to the suture ; the anterior branch is short and hooked.
Its average length is about half an inch; but it varies from
four to six tenths of an inch. The males are smaller than the
females, but have longer antennae. This pretty beetle has
been long known to me, but its habits were not ascertained
till the year 1847. On the nineteenth of June, in that year,
Theophilus Parsons, Esq., sent to me some fragments of bark
and insects which were taken by Mr. J. Richardson from the

COLEOPTERA. 99

decaying elms on Boston Common ; and, among the insects,
I recognized a pair of these beetles in a living state. My
curiosity was immediately excited to learn something more
concerning these beetles and their connection with the trees,
but was not satisfied by a partial examination made in the
course of the summer. It was not till the following winter,
that an opportunity was afforded for a thorough search, with
the permission of the Mayor, the Hon. Josiah Quincy, Jun.,
and with the help of the Superintendent of the Common.
The trees were found to have suffered terribly from the ravages
of these insects. Several of them had akeady been cut down,
as past recovery; others were in a dying state, and nearly all
of them were more or less affected with disease or premature
decay. Their bark was perforated, to the height of thirty feet
from the ground, with numerous holes, through which insects
had escaped; and large pieces had become so loose, by the
undermining of the grubs, as to yield to slight efforts, and
come off in flakes. The inner bark was filled with the bur-
rows of the grubs, great numbers of which, in various stages
of growth, together with some in the pupa state, were found
therein; and even the surface of the wood, in many cases, was
furrowed with their irregular tracks. Very rarely did they
seem to have penetrated far into the wood itself; but their
operations were mostly confined to the inner layers of the
bark, which thereby became loosened from the wood beneath.
The grubs rarely exceed three quarters of an inch in length.
They have no feet, and they resemble the larvae of other spe-
cies of Saperda, except in being rather more flattened. They
appear to complete their transformations in the third year of
their existence. The beetles probably leave their holes in the
bark during the month of June and in the beginning of July ;
for, in the course of thirty years, I have repeatedly taken them
at various dates, from the fifth of June to the tenth of July.
It is evident, from the nature and extent of their depredations,
that these insects have alarmingly hastened the decay of the
elm-trees on Boston Mall and Common, and that they now
threaten their entire destruction. Other causes, however, have
probably contributed to the same end. It will be remembered

100 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

that these trees have greatly suffered, in past times, from the
ravages of canker-worms. Moreover, the impenetrable state
of the surface-soil, the exhausted condition of the subsoil, and
the deprivation of all benefit from the decomposition of accu-
mulated leaves, which, in a state of nature, the trees would
have enjoyed, but which a regard for neatness has industri-
ously removed, have doubtless had no small influence in
diminishing the vigor of the trees, and thus made them faU
unresistingly a prey to insect devourers. The plan of this
work precludes a more full consideration of these and other
topics connected with the growth and decay of these trees;
and I can only add that it may be prudent to cut down and
burn all that are much infested by the borers.

The tall blackberry, Ruhus villosus, 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 some-
what 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 cylindrical form, and their antennas
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 fore part of tiie 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 irregularly on the sides and
tips, each of which is slightly notched and ends with two little
points. The two black dots on the middle of the thorax are

COLEOPTERA.

101^

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 tlie blackberry and raspberry, 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 dis-
tance of several inches, is completely deprived of its i)ith, 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.

The Lepturians, or Lepturad.e, constitute the third family
of the Capricorn-beetles. In most of them the body is nar-
rowed behind, which is the origin of the name applied to
them, signifying 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 forehead. Moreover the head is not deeply
sunk in the fore part 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, visit-
ing flowers for the sake of the poUen and tender leaves, w^hich
they eat. Their grubs live in the trunks and stumps of trees,
are rather broad and somewhat flattened, and are mostly fur-
nished with six extremely short legs.

The largest and finest of these beetles in New England is
the Desmocerus paUiatus* which appears on the flowers and
leaves of the common elder towards the end of June and until
the middle of July. It is of a deep violet or Prussian blue
color, sometimes glossed with green, and nearly one half of
the fore part 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

* Cerainbyx palliatus of Forster ; Stenocorus cyaneus, Fabricius.

102 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

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 abruptly thickened at
the extremity, giving them the knotty appearance indicated by
the generical name Desniocenis, 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 Leptiu-ians at work beneath it, in consequence of
which it falls off' in large flakes, and the tree perishes. These
grubs live between the bark and the wood, often in great num-
bers together, and, when they are about to become pupae, each
one surrounds itself with 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 Uneatum* so named because
it has three elevated longitudinal lines or ribs on each wing-
cover ; and it measures from four and a half 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, gradually taper
behind, and are slightly convex above ; they are coarsely punc-
tured between the smooth elevated lines, and are variegated
with reddish ash-color and black, the latter forming two irregu-
lar transverse bands; the under side of the body, and the legs,
are variegated with dull red, gray, and black. The gray por-
tions on this beetle are occasioned by very short hairs, forming
a close kind of nap, which is easily rubbed off'.

The Buprestians and the Capricorn-beetles seem evidently
allied in their habits, both being borers during the greater part
of their lives, and living in the trunks and limbs of trees, to
which they are more or less injurious in proportion to their

* Stenocorut lineatus of Olivier.

COLEOPTEllA. 103

numbers. Some of the beetles in these two ^oups resemble
each other closely in their forms and habits. The resemblance,
between the slender cylindrical Saperdas and some of the
cylindrical Buprestians belonoinir to the genus Ag-riliis, is
indeed very remarkable, and cannot fail to strike a common
observer. Their larva) 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
foregoing part of this treatise, spend by far the greater portion
of their lives, namely, that wherein they are larvse 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 unnoticed and unknown. Thus the work of
destruction goes secretly and silently on, till it becomes mani-
fest by its melancholy consequences ; and too late we discover
the hidden foes that have disappointed the hopes of the hus-
bandman, and ruined those spontaneous productions of the
soil that constitute so important a som-ce 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. When, as in certain seasons, they appear in
considerable numbers, they do not a little injury to vegetation,
and, being generally exposed 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 hidden 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 then- depredations. The leaf-beetles are generally distin-

104 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

guished by the want of a snout, by their short legs and broad
cushioned feet, and their antennsB 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 Linneeus included them. Others, and indeed the greater
number, have the body oval, broad, and often very convex.

The oblong leaf-beetles, called Criocerians (Criocerididjs),
have some resemblance to the Capricorn-beetles. They are dis-
tinguished by the following characters. The eyes are promi-
nent and nearly round ; the antennae are of moderate length,
composed of short, nearly cylindrical or beaded joints, and are
implanted before the eyes ; the thorax is narrow and almost
cylindrical or square ; the wing-covers, taken together, form an
oblong square, rounded behind, and much wider than the tho-
rax ; 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 antennae
(except the first joint), the outside of the shins, and the feet
ai"e dusky. The thorax is abruptly narrowed or pinched in on
the middle of each side. When held between the fingers,
these insects make a creaking sound like the Capricorn-beetles.
They appear early in June on the leaves of the potato-vines,
having at that time recently come out of the ground, where
they pass the winter in the pupa state. Within a few years,
these insects have excited some attention, on account of their
prevalence in some parts of the country, and from a mistaken
notion that they were the cause of the potato-rot. They eat
the leaves of the potato, gnawing large and 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

COLEOrXERA. 105

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 rinej. They are
rather short, approaehin£f to a cylindrical form, but thickest in
the middle, and have six legs, arranged in pairs l)cncath the
first three rings. After making a hearty meal upon the leaves
of the potato, they cover themselves Avith their own tilth.
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,
is pushed forwards, as. fast as it accinnulates, towards the
head, until the whole of the back is entirely coated with it.
This covering shelters their soft and tender 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 backwaMs,
never devouring the ])ortion 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 oft" their loads, creep down the plant, and
bury themselves in the ground. Here each one forms for itself
a little cell of earth, cemented and varnished within by a
gummy fluid discharged from its mouth, and when this is
done, it changes to a pupa. In about a fortnight more the
insect throws off 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 them, 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.

The habits of the Hispas, little leaf-beetles, forming the
family Hispad.e, were first made known by me in the year
14

106 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

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 pupse, may be found.
The upper side of the beetles is generally rough, as the generi-
cal name implies. The larvaj 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 their operations, turns
brown and dries, and has somewhat of a blistered appearance,
and within these blistered spots the larvee or grubs, the pupse,
or the beetles may often be found. The eggs of these insects
are little rough blackish grains, and are glued to the surface 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 provided 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] of Weber, or the rosy Hispa. They are of a
deep) tawny or reddish yeUow color above, marked with little
deep red lines and spots. The head is small ; the antennae are
short, thickened 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 one fifth of an inch

• Vol. I. page 141.

t Hispa quadrata, Fabricius ; II. marginata, Say.

COLEOPTEllA. lOT

in length. These beetles may be found on the leaves of the
apple-tree, and very abundantly on those of the shad-bush
{Anielanchier oralis), and choke-berry [Pyrus arbutifulia), dur-
ing the latter part of May and the beginning of June.

In the middle of June, another kind of Hispa may be found
pairing and laying eggs on the leaves of the locust-tree. The
grubs appear during the month of July, and are transformed
to beetles in August. They measure nearly one quarter of an
inch in length, are of a tawny yellow color, with a black longi-
tudinal 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, antennoe, 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 Cassi-
DAD-E. This name, derived from a word signifying a helmet,
is applied to them because the fore part of the semicircular
thorax 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 convex above. The antennas 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 species 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
{Solarium dulcamara), and in great abundance on various kinds
of Convolvulus, 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

108 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

June, having probably survived 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, composed of stiti' 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 accumu-
lated. 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 themselves
firmly by the hinder part of their bodies to the leaves, when
this change is about to take place. The pupa remains fastened
to the cast-skin of the larva. It is broad oval, fringed, at the
sides, and around the fore part 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 ves-
sels; and these are probably the source of the changeable
brilliancy of the insect.

The Chrysomelians (Crysomei.ad.e) compose an extensive
tribe of leaf-eating beetles, formerly included in the old genus
Chrysomcla. 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

COLEOPTERA. 10^

they are now very properly distributed into four separate ^oups
or families. The lirst of these, ealled (iALi:iu;cAD.K, or Galeru-
cians, consists mostly of dull-colored beetles; having an o])long
oval, slightly convex body; a short, and rather narrow, and
uneven tliorax ; slender antenn;p, more than half the length of
the body, and implanted close togetJKT on th(> forehead ; slender
legs, which are nearly equal in sizt;; and claws split at the end.
They lly 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 some-
times do great injury to plants, eating large holes in the leaves,
or consuming entirely those that are young and tender. The
larva) are rather short cylindrical grubs, generally of a blackish
color, and are provided with sL\ legs. They live and feed
together in swarms, and sometimes appear in very great num-
bers 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 Galeruca Calmariensis ; 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 little clusters or rows
along the veins of the leaves, and those of the elm Galeruca
are of a yellow 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.

One of the most common kinds is the Galeruca vittata* or
striped Galeruca, generally known here by the names of striped
bug, and cucumber beetle. This destructive insect 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

* Crioceris vittata of Fabricius.

110 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

black, forming a third narrower stripe down the middle of the
back ; the abdomen, 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, Amelanchicr botryapium and oralis, and
Pyrus arbutifolia, towards the end of April. It makes its first
appearance, on cucumber, 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 cucvimber 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 salts in a quart of water,
or with tobacco water, an infusion of elder, of w^alnut 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 snuff to be
applied in the same way. As these insects fly by night, as'

COLEOPTERA. Ill

well as by day, and are attracted by lights, burning 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
ao-ainst these insects 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 frames expeditiously and economi-
cally, and his directions may be found in the second volume
of the " New England Farmer," * and in Fessenden's " New
American Gardener," f 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 HALTiCADiE. 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 lergth 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 Haltica, 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 colored. 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, mustard, cress, radish, and horse-radish
kind, or those, which, in botanical language, are called cruci-
ferous 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,

* Page 305. t Sixth edition, page 91.

112 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

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. Another small flea-beetle is often
very injurious to the grape-vines in Europe, and a larger spe-
cies attacks the same plant in this country. The flea-beetles
conceal themselves during the winter, in dry places, under
stones, in tufts of withered grass and moss, and in chinks of
walls. They lay their eggs in the spring, upon the leaves of
the plants upon which they feed. The larvte, or young, of the
smaller kinds burrow into the leaves, and eat the soft pulpy
substance under the skin, forming therein little winding pas-
sages, in which they finally complete their transformations.
Hence the plants sufier as much from the depredations of the
larvae, as from those of the beetles, a fact that has too often
been overlooked. The larvae of the larger kinds are said to
live exposed 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 mining larvse, 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 constant succession of these insects, in their various
states, throughout 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, descrip-
tions of two or three common species, and suggest such reme-
dies 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 in-
sect, I formerly named it Haltica Cucumeris, the cucumber
flea-beetle; but Mr. Say subsequently informed me that it was
the pubescens of Illiger, so named because it is very slightly
pubescent or downy. Count Dejean, who gave to it the specific
name of fiiscula, considered it as distinct from the pubescens;
and it differs from the descriptions of the latter in the color of

COLEOPTERA. 113

its thighs, and in never having the tips and shoulders of the
wing-covers yellowish ; so that it may still bear the name given
to it in my Catalogue. It is only one sixteenth of an inch
long, of a black color, with clay-yellow antennee and legs,
except the hindmost thighs, which are brown. The upper side
of the body is covered with punctures, which are arranged in
rows on the wing-cases ; and there is a deep transverse furrow
across the hinder part of the thorax. During the summer,
these pernicious flea-beetles may be found, not only on cucum-
ber-vines, but on various other plants having fleshy and sviccu-
lent leaves, such as beans, beets, the tomato, and the potato.
They injure all these plants, more or less, according to their
numbers, by nibbling little holes in the leaves with their teeth ;
the functions of the leaves being thereby impaired in proportion
to the extent of surface and amount of substance destroyed.
The edges of the bitten parts become brown and dry by expo-
sure to the air, and assume a rusty appearance. Since the
prevalence of the disease, commonly called the potato-rot,
attention has been particularly directed to various insects that
live upon the potato plant; and, as these flea-beetles have been
found upon it in great numbers, in some parts of the country,
they have been charged with being the cause of the disease.
The same charge has also been made against several other
kinds of insects, some of which will be described in the course
of this work. In my own opinion, the origin, extension, and
continued reappearance of this wide-spread pestilence are not
due to the depredations of insects of any kind. jVIr. Phanuel
Flanders, of Lowell, where the flea-beetles have appeared in
unusual numbers, showed to me, in August, 1851, some potato-
leaves that were completely riddled with holes by them, so that
but little more than the ribs and veins remained untouched.
He thinks that their ravages may be prevented by watering
the leaves with a solution of lime, a remedy long ago employed
in England, with signal benefit, in preserving the turnip crop
from the attacks of the turnip flea-beetle.

The wavy-striped flea-beetle, Haltica striolata* may be seen

♦ Crioceris striolata, Fabricius.

15

114 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 resembles in its appearance, and in
all its habits. Though rather larger than the cucumber flea-
beetle, and 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 some-
times found having two buff'-yellow spots on each wing-cover
instead of the wavy stripe. These were not known, by Fabri-
cius, to be merely varieties of the striolata, and accordingly he
described them as distinct, under the name of bipuslulata* the
two-spotted.

The steel-blue flea-beetle, Haltica chalybea 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 destroys. Though it has received the specific name of
chalybea, meaning steel-blue, it is exceedingly variable in its
color, specimens 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 duU 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 quarters towards the end of April,
and continue to appear tiU 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

• Crioceris bipustulata, Fabricius.

COLEOPTERA. 115

the end of July. I have not had an opportunity to trace the
history of these insects any further, and consiupiently their
larva? are unknown to me. IVIr. 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 suc-
culent 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 was " wholly unexampled." " Some vines were entirely
despoiled of their fruit buds, so as to be rendered, for that
season, barren." Mr. Thomas found the vine-leaves were in-
fested, in the years 1830 and 1831, by "small chestnut-colored
smooth worms," and suspecting these to be the larvae of the
beetle (which he called Chrysomela vitivora), he fed them in a
tumbler, containing some moist earth, until they were fuUy
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 stiU wanted.
In England, where the ravages of the turnip flea-beetle have
attracted great attention, and have caused many and various
experiments to be tried with a view of checking them, it is
thought that "the careful and systematic use of lime will
obviate, in a great degree, the danger which has been experi-
enced" from this insect. From this and other statements in
favor of the use of lime, there is good reason to hope that it
wiU effectually protect plants from the various kinds of flea-
beetles, if dusted over them, when wet with dew, in proper
season. Watering plants with alkaline 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

116 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

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-
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^e, 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 re-
spect 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 brilliant, 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, Avith 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 therriselves
by the tail, when about to be transformed. Some, however,
go into the ground when about to change to pupse. 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.

COLEOPTERA. 117

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 {Asclepias Sj/riaca), upon which it
may be found, in some or all of its states, from the middle of
June till September. Its head, thorax, body beneath, antenna?,
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 trimacu-
lata 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 oval shape than the preceding. The head,
thorax, and under side of its body are dark green, the wing-
covers silvery white, ornamented 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 sLx
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,

118 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

these are short, and very thick, the back arching upwards very
much in the middle. I believe that they go into the ground
to tm-n to pupte. Should they become so numerous as seri-
ously 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.

The most common leaf-beetle of the family under consid-
eration is the blue-winged Chrysomela, or Chryso7nela ccerulei-
pennis of Say, an insect hardly distinct from the European
Chrysomela Polyg-oni, and like the latter it lives in great num-
bers on the common 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 twen-
tieths 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 of
the same plant.

Having described the largest, the most elegant, and the most
common of our Chrysomelians, I must omit all the rest, except
the most splendid, which was called Eumolpus auratus by Fa-
bricius, 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 {Apocynum AndroscB'
mifolium)^ which it devours, during the months of July and
August. The larvae are unknown to me.

\

COLEOPTERA. 119

The fourth family of the leaf-eating Chrysomelians consists
of the Cryptocephalians (Cryptocepiialid.f,), so named from
the principal genus Crt/jdocnphalus, 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 fore part of
the thorax. Their larvas 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 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 (lomitiicana inhabits the sumach, C. quadriguttata oak-
trees, Chlamys gibbosa low whortleberry bushes, Crytocephalus
luridus the wild indigo-bush, and most of the other species
mav be found on different kinds of oaks.

Although the blistering beetles, or Cantharides (Canthari-
did.e), have been enumerated among the insects directly bene-
ficial 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 Spa-
nish 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 sometimes appear in immense swarms, on the privet, lilac,
and ash; so that the limbs of these plants bend under their
weight, and are entirely 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.

120 INSECTS INJUKIOUS TO VEGETATION.

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 mushroom-beetles,
flat bark-beetles, and the like, with which they form a 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 are long and
slender ; the soles of the feet are not broad, and are not cush-
ioned 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 disa-
greeable 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 sldn, 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 species.
For further particulars relative to their use, the reader is re-
ferred 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

COLEOPTERA. 121

Cantharis vittata* or striped Cantharis. It is of a dull tawny
yellow or light yellowish 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 sbc tenths of an inch. In this and the
three following species the thorax is very much narrowed
before, and the wing-covers are long and narrow, and cover
the whole of the back. The striped Cantharis is comparatively
rare in New England; but in the IMiddle and Western States
it often appears in great numbers, and does much mischief in
potato-fields and gardens, eating up not only the leaves of the
potato, but those of many other vegetables. It is one of the
insects to which the production of the potato-rot has been
ascribed. 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 Virg-iniana), 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 Ranunculus or buttercups, and, in
the Middle and Southern States, those of Clematis viorna and
crispa. This beetle is the Cantharis marginata of Olivier, or
margined Cantharis. It measures sLx or seven tenths of an
inch in length. Its head and thorax are thickly covered 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
edging; and the under side of the body and the legs are also
gray.

The most destructive kind of Cantharis, found in Massa-

* Lytta vittata, Fabricius.

16

122 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

chusetts, is of a more slender form than the preceding, and
measures only from five and a half to slx 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 Cantharis. When the insect is rubbed, the
ash-colored substance comes off, leaving the surface black. It
begins to appear in gardens about the twentieth of June, and
is very fond of the leaves of the English bean, which it some-
times entirely destroys. It is also occasionally found in con-
siderable numbers on potato-vines ; and in Cambridge, Massa-
chusetts, 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 also they retire for
shelter during the heat of the day, being most actively engaged
in eating in the morning and evening. About the fust of
August they go into the ground and lay their eggs, and these
are hatched in the course of one month. The larvae are slen-
der, 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 maturity, 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 ( Solidago
altissima), which seems to be its favorite food. In some places
it is as plentiful in potato-fields as the striped and the mar-
gined 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

* Lytta cinerea, Fabricius.

COLEOPTERA. 123

remarkable, that they arc collected for medical use, and are
sold in our shops by the name of Cantharis vittata, without a
suspicion of their being distinct from each other. Tht; black
Cantharis, or Cantharis atrata* is totally black, without bands
or spots, and measures 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 un-
covered. 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-net. They should be killed by throwing them into scald-
ing water, for one or two minutes, after which they may be
spread out on sheets of paper to dry, and may be made profit-
able by selling 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 con-
sidered by some naturalists as forming one of the links
connecting the orders Coleoptera and Orthoptera together.
These insects belong to the genus Mcloe, so named, it is sup-
posed, 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,

* Lytta atrata, Fabricius.

124 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

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 ang^sticollis of Say, or
narrow-necked oil-beetle. It is of a dark indigo-blue color ; the
thorax is very nan'ow, and the antenna? of the male are curi-
ously twisted and knotted in the middle. It measures from
eight tenths of an inch to one inch in length. It is very com-
mon on buttercups 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,
belonging 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, Hemiptera, Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera, and Di-
ptera, 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.

ORTHOPTERA.

125

ORTHOPTERA.

Earwigs. Cockroaches. — Mantes, or Soothsayers. — Walking Leaves,
Walking Sticks, ok Spectres. —Mole-Cuicket. Field Crickets. Climb-
ing Cricket. 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 Enghsh writers, some kinds of
which will be the subject of future remark in this treatise.
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 misapplication of
names, by persons unacquainted with natural history, 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 capable of
becoming a good observer, and of making valuable discoveries
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

126 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

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 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 cock-
roaches, these upper wings or wing-covers are broader, almost
oval, and lie horizontally 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 insects 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 fuU
size. The second stage in the progress of the Orthopterous
insects to maturity, is not, like that of beetles, a state of in-
activity and rest, in which the insect loses the grub-like or
larva form which it had when hatched from the egg, and be-
comes 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 transparent skin which impedes all
motion. On the contrary, the Orthoptera, 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 pupas
are active and voracious, and increase greatly in size, which is
not the case with the insects that are subject to a complete
transformation, for such never eat or grow in the pupa state.
When fully gi-own, they cast off their skins for the sLxth or
last time, and then appear in the adult or perfect state, fuUy
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, con-

ORTIIOPTERA. 127

sist of nothing more than a successive scries of moultings,
during which their wings are gradually developed. These
changes may receive the name of imperfect or incomplete
transformation, in contradistinction 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 vegetable 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 :

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), lilte 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
powerful muscles, which enable these insects to leap with
facility.

I. RUNNERS. {Orthoptera Cursoria.)

Li English works on gardening, earwigs are reckoned among
obnoxious insects, various remedies are suggested to banish

* These are the four divisions proposed by Mr. "Westwood in his " Introduc-
tion," who, however, applies to them their Latin names only.

128 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

them from the garden, and even traps and other devices are
described for capturing and destroying them. They have a
rather long and somewhat 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 Forficula^ 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 daytime, they creep into all
kinds of crevices for the sake of concealment, and come out
to feed chiefly by night. It is common with English gardeners
to hang up, among the flowers and fruit-trees subject to their
attacks, pieces of hollow reeds, lobster claws, and the like,
which offer enticing places of retreat 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 erroneously 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 cockroach {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 spe-
cies, 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 dis-
gusting 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.

ORTHOPTERA. 129

Mix together a table-spoonful of red-lead and of Indian meal
with molasses cnongli 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. Dr. F. H. Horner* recom-
mends the following preparation to destroy cockroaches. Mix
one teaspoonful of powdered arsenic with a table-spoonful of
mashed potato, and crumble one third of it, every night, at
bedtime, about the kitchen hearth, or where the insects will
find and devour it. As both of tiiese preparations are very
poisonous, great care should be taken in the use of them, and
of any portions that may be left by the insects.

II. 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 man-
kind, by keeping in check those that subsist on vegetable food.

III. WALKERS. {Orthoptera 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^
siccifolium, &c.). Others are wingless, of a long and cylindrical
shape, resembling a stick with the bark on it, while the slender

* Downing's Horticulturist. Vol. 11. p. 343 (Jan. 1848).

17

130 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO \T:GETATI0N.

legs, standing out on each side, give to these insects ahnost
precisely the appearance of a little branching twig, whence is
derived the name of walking sticks, generally applied to them.
The South American Bacteria arumatia, rubispinosa, and phyl-
Una, and two species of DiajjJieromera? described and figured
in Say's "American Entomology," under the names of Spectrum
femoratum and bivittatum, 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.

rV. JUMPERS. {Orthoptera sanatoria.)

These are by far the most abundant and prolific, and the
most destructive of the Orthopterous insects. They were all
included by Linnaeus in his great genus Gryllus, in separate
divisions, however, three of which correspond to the families
Achetada;* Grylliadce,^ and Locustiad(B,\ 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 (Achetad^); with the wing-covers horizontal,
and furnished with a narrow, deflexed outer border; antennae
long and tapering; feet three-jointed (except CEcanthus, which
has four joints to the hind feet) ; two tapering, downy bristles
at the end of the body, between which, in most of the females,
there is a long spear-pointed piercer.

2. Grasshoppers (Gryllid.e); with the wing-covers sloping
downwards at the sides of the body, or roofed, and not bor-
dered; 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 (L0CUSTAD.1;); with the wing-covers roofed, and

* Gryllus Acheta, Linnseus. f Gryllus Tettigonia, L. % Gryllus Locusta, L.

ORTHOPTERA. 131

not bordered; antenna; rather short, and in general not tapering
at the end ; feet with only three joints ; female without a pro-
jecting piercer.

1. Crickets. {AchetadcB.)

There may sometimes be seen in moist and soft ground,
particularly 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 abdo-
men, 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 projections, 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-crickets avoid the light of day, and are
active chiefly during the night. They live 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, sometimes whole beds of cabbages,
beans, and flowers. In the West Indies, extensive ravages

* Serville. " Orthopteres," p. 308.

132 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

have been committed in the plantations of the sugar-cane, by
another species, GryUotalpa didactj/la, 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 con-
tributing greatly to increase the ravages of these insects. It
is observed, that, in proportion as cultivation is extended, de-
structive 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
Europe, 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 eat 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
species, 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, locusts, and harvest-flies, the males only are
musical ; for the females are not provided with the instruments
from which the sounds emitted by these different insects are
produced. In the male 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 organs), he raises the wing-covers

ORTnOPTERA. 133

a little, and shuffles them together lengthwise, so that the pro-
jecting 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 Sclborne, says that " the shrilling of the field-
cricket, though sharj3 and stridulous, yet marvellously delights
some hearers, filling their minds with a train of summer ideas
of everything that is rural, verdurous, and joyous" ; sentiments
in which few persons, if any, in America will participate ; for
with us the crealdng 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 wearisome and sad. Where crickets abound, they do
great injiu-y to vegetation, eating the most tender parts of
plants, and even devouring roots and fruits, whenever they
can get them. Melons, squashes, and even potatoes are often
eaten by them, and the quantity 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 can meet with and can overpower 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 Acheta abbreinata,
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 border. The pale line is most distinct in the female,
and is oftentimes entirely wanting in the male.

134 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

"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 Acheta nigra, the black cricket.

A third species, differing from these two in being entirely
destitute of wings, and in having the wing-covers proportion-
ally much shorter, and the last joint of the feelers (palpi)
almost twice the length of the preceding joint, is furthermore
distinguished from them by its greatly inferior size, and its
different 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 lon-
gitudinal 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 August, 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

* It belongs to M. Serville's new genus Nemobius.

ORTIIOPTERA. 135

one wing-cover against the other; but they generally raise
their wing-covers much higher than other crickets do while
they are playing. These wing-covers, in the males, are also
very large, and as long as the wings; they are exceedingly
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 (Ecanthtis, 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 immedi-
ately issue from their nests and conceal themselves among the
thickest foliage of the plant. 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 incessant and loud shrilling will effectually banish
sleep. Of three species which inhabit the United States, one
only is found in Massachusetts. It is the (Ecanthus niveus, or
white climbing cricket. The male is ivory-white, with the upper
side of the first joint of the antennae, 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 antennas ;
and, in some individuals, the extremities of the feet, and the
under sides of the hindmost thighs, are ochre-yellow. The

* Memorie intorno le Locuste grillajole. 8vo; Verona: 1750.

136 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

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 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 tho-
rax, 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. Some of these insects have been sent
to me by a gentleman who found them piercing and laying
eggs in the branches of a peach-tree. Another correspondent,
who is interested in the tobacco culture in Connecticut, in-
formed me that they injured the plant by eating holes in the
leaves.

2. Grasshoppers. (Gryllidce.)

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
resembling a sword or cimeter in shape. The wing-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 membranous 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 ma-

ORTIIOPTEKA. 137

turity. It belongs to M. Serville's genus PhaJan^opsis^ and I
propose to call it Phalangopsis maculata* the spotted wingless
cricket. 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 numer-
ous short oblique lines, disposed in parallel rows, like those on
the thighs of Acheta vUtata. 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 and shrubs, 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 their better concealment. They are nocturnal insects, or at
least more active by night than by day. When taken between
the fingers, they emit from their mouths a considerable quan-
tity of dark-colored fluid, as do also the locusts or diurnal
grasshoppers. They devour the leaves of plants, and lead a
solitary life, or at least do not associate and migrate from
place to place in great swarms, like some of the crickets and
the locusts. There is a remarkable difference in their habits,
which does not appear to have been described hitherto. Some
of these grasshoppers live upon grass and other herbaceous or
low plants in fields and meadows. The piercer of the females
is often straight, or only slightly curved. They commit their
eggs to the earth, thrusting them into holes made therein with
the piercer. 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 encloses them. These eggs are
elongated, and nearly of an elipsoidal form. Other green
Grylli live upon trees and shrubs. Their wing-covers and
wings are broader, and their piercer is shorter and often more
curved than in the foregoing kinds. They do not lay their
eggs in the ground, but deposit them upon branches and twigs,

* Grylhcs macttlattis, Harris. Catalogue of the Insects of Massachusetts.

18

138 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO ATIGETATION.

in regular rows. My attention was first directed to the egg»
of the tree-grylU by Mr. F. C. Hill, late of Philadelphia.

Some of these grasshoppers have the front of the head
obtuse, and others have it conical, or prolonged to a point be-
tween the antennae. Among the former is the insect, which,
from its peculiar 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 lOce 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 simu-
lating the midrib of a leaf. The musical organs of the male
consist 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 distinct
notes almost exactly resembling articulated sounds, and corres-
ponding 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 tabo-
rets, and the concavity of the wing-covers, reverberate and
increase the 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 lives, and, as soon as the
shades of evening prevail, begins his noisy babble, while rival
notes issue from the neighboring trees, and the groves resound

ORTHOPTERA. 139

with the call of "katy-did, she-did," tho livo-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 Flati/p/iy/luiu*
concavnm,f 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 com-
pressed, and curved like a cimctor ; and there are, in both sexes,
two little thorn-like projections from the middle of the breast
between the fore legs. The katy-did is found in the perfect
state during the months of September and October, at which
time the female lays her eggs. These are slate-colored, and
are rather more than one eighth of an inch in length. They
resemble tiny oval bivalve shells in shape. The insect lays
them in two contiguous rows along the surface of a twig, the
bark of which is previously shaved off or made rough with
her piercer. Each row consists of eight or nine eggs, placed
somewhat obliquely, and overlapping each other a little, and
they are fastened to the twig with a gummy substance. In
hatching, the egg splits open at one end, and the young insect
creeps through the cleft. I am indebted to Miss Morris for
specimens of these eggs.

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-cover, which is the
uppermost, is not transparent, but is gi'cen 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 Phyllo-
ptera ohlongifolia^X or oblong leaf-winged grasshopper. Its

* Platyphyllum means broad-wing,
t Can this be the Locusta perspicillata of Fabricius ?

X Locusta ohhngifoUa of De Geer, a different species from the laurifolia of
Linnteus, -with which it has been confounded by many naturalists.

140 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

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 perfect 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 grating, are comparatively
feeble. The females lay their eggs in the autumn on the twigs
of trees and shrubs, in double rows, of seven or eight eggs in
each row. These eggs, in form, size, and color, and in then:
an-angement on the twig, strikingly resemble those of the katy-
did. The Rev. Thomas Hill, of Waltham, had the kindness
to procure some of them for me from Philadelphia.

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 shorter,
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 up-
wards like the piercer of the female. This grasshopper belongs
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 ang-ustifolia* 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 ohlongifoUa. 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 different ages, and of a light green color, with a

* I formerly mistook this insect for the Locusta curvicauda of De Geer, -which
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 rhylloptera.

ORTHOPTEEA. 141

brown stripe on the top of the head, extending to the tip of
the little smooth and blunt projection between the antenna?,
and a broader brown stripe bounded on each side by deeper
brown on the top of the thorax. The antenna?, 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 narrowed 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 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 \\'ing-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 color 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.
During 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 Locusta agilis of De Geer, which is found in
Pennsylvania and the Southern States, but does not inhabit
Massachusetts, and is distinguished from our species by having
the wings nearly one tenth of an inch longer than the wing-
covers, the antennse excessively long (two inches or more), and

142 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

the piercer not quite so much curved as in our species, besides
other differences which it is unnecessary to record here. As
our species does not appear to have been named, or described
by any previous writer, I propose to call it Orchclimum vulgare,
the common meadow-grasshopper, the generical name signify-
ing literally, I dance in the meadow.

With this species another one is also found, bearing a con-
siderable 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 over-
lapping 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 abdomen is brown, with the edges of
the segments greenish yellow, 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 Orchelimum
g-racile, the slender meadow-grasshopper. M, Serville, by
whom this genus was instituted, has described three species,
two of which are stated to be North American, and the re-
maining one is probably also from this country; but his
descriptions 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 dis-
tinguished from all the preceding species by having the head
conical, 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 Massachusetts, bears the specific name of ensig-ej; the sword-
bearer, from the long, straight, sword-shaped piercer of the
female. It measures 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

ORXnOPTERA. 143

pale green, with the head whitish, or only faintly tinted ^^'ith
green, and the legs and abdomen are pale brownish green. A
little tooth projects downwards from the under 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 liindmost
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 dissimilis described by M. Serville, but appears to
be a different species.

3. Locusts. {Locustadce.)

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 even overlapping for a short distance, at their
upper edges, which together form a ridge on the back like a
sloping roof. Their antennae 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 open-
ing 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

IM INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

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 producing sounds, have not the cymbals and tabors
of the crickets and grasshoppers ; their instruments may rather
be likened to violins, 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, standing 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
grilloi 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 shoul-
ders of the wings several stout ribs or veins pass towards the

ORTHOPTERA. 145

hinder margin, spreading apart, when the wings arc opened,
like the sti(;ks of a fan, and are connected and strengthened by-
little crossing veins, which form a kind of network. 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
unsteady, 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 theu- 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 whirl-
wind ; 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 battle;* and, of others, that
their coming is like the noise of chariots on the tops of moun-
tains, or the crackling of stubble when overrun, 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 re-
ducing, 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 biunt 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. Li the Scriptures § frequent mention is made

* Revelations IX. 11. f Joel II. 5. J Locus and ^^stus.

§ For an explanation of the various passages in which allusion is made to
locusts, and for much interesting matter, relating to the history of these insects

19

146 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

of tlie destructive powers of locusts, and these accounts are
fully confirmed by the testimony of numerous travellers in
Asia and Africa, some of whom have been eye-witnesses of
the devastations of these insects. Among the later accounts,
that contained in Olivier's " Travels " does not seem to have
been quoted by English writers. The following is a free trans-
lation of the passage. Olivier, at the time of writing it, was
in Syria. " After a burning south wind had prevailed 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 dashing
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 com-
pletely 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 7nig"ratoria), but consisted of the species called Acry-
dium pereg-rinum.

Although the ravages of locusts in America are not followed
by such serious consequences as in the Eastern continent, yet

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." Svo. Boston: 1820.

**01ivier, Voyage dans I'Empire Ottoman, I'Egypte et la Perse. Tom. II. p.
424.

ORTHOPTERA. 147

they are sufficiently formidable to have attracted attention,
and not unfrequently have these insects laid waste considerable
tracts, and occasioned no little loss to the cultivator of tiie soil.
Our salt-marshes, which are accounted among the most pro-
ductive and valuable of our natural meadows, are frequented
by great numbers of the small red-legged species (Acn/dium
femur-rubrum), intermingled occasionally with some larger
kinds. These, in certain seasons, almost entirely consume the
grass of these marshes, from whence they then take their course
to the uplands, devouring, in their way, grass, corn, and vege-
tables, 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 putrescent 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, though incorrectly, compre-
hended under the same name, or under that of flying grass-
hoppers. 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
provided with wings, as they are when fully grown. In our
newspapers I have sometimes seen accounts of the devastations
of grasshoppers, which could only be applicable to some of our
locusts. At various times they have appeared in great abund-
ance in different parts 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 threatened calamity. The

* See Williamson's History of Maine, Vol. I. pp. 102, 103, and compare -with
p. 172 of the same work.

148 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

southern and western parts of New Hampshire, 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 depre-
dations. Among the various accounts which I have seen, the
following, extracted from the Travels of the late President
Dwight,* seems to be the most full and circumstantial. " Ben-
nington (Vermont), and its neighborhood, have for some time
past been infested by grasshoppers (locusts) of a kind with
which I had before been wholly unacquainted. At least, their
history, as given by respectable 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 them, 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 voracity 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 separated, are termed
sawdust. 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 opera-
tions 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 authentically informed that some persons, employed in
raising the steeple of the church in Williamstown, were, while

* Travels in New England and New York, by Timothy Dwight. Vol. II.
p. 403.

ORTHOPTERA. It9

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 Hamp-
shire, I have been favored with specimens of the destructive
locusts which occasionally appear in that part of New England,
and which, most probably, are of the same species as the in-
sects 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 College, 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 extended 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 tvirned
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 de-
scribed ; and the habits of many of them have not been fully
investigated. The difficulty which I have met with in ascer-
taining, from mere verbal reports, or from the accounts that
occasionally appear in our pubhc prints, the scientific names
of the noxious insects wliich 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. : Aery-
dium (of Geoffroy and Latreille), Locusta ( GrijUus Locnsta of

150 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

LinnsBus), and Tetrix (of Latreille). These three genera may
be distinguished from each other by the following characters.

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, ta-
pering to a point behind, and covering the whole of the back
to the extremity of the abdomen; wing-covers exceedingly
minute, consisting only of a little scale on each side of the
body; fore part of the breast forming a projection, like a cravat
or stock, to receive 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
entomologists. I have followed Latreille and Serville in con-
fining it to those locusts which have a projecting spine or
tubercle in the middle of the fore part 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 yellow; abdomen with transverse rows of minute
blackish dots; hindmost thighs whitish within and w^ithout,
the white portion bounded by a row of minute distant black
dots, and crossed, herring-bone fashion, by numerous brown
lines; hindmost shanks reddish, with yellowish white spines,
which are tipped with black. Length, to the end of the abdo-
men, 1| inch ; the wing-covers expand over 3 inches.

ORTHOPTERA. 151

This inscc't was brought to mc, from Martha's Vineyard, l)y
Mr. Robert Treat Faine. It bears a close resemblance in form
to Acrijdium Aniericanum of De Geer, a much larger and more
showy Southern species.

2. Acrijdium Jlavo-vittatum* Yellow-striped locust.

Dull green or olive-colored, with a yellowish line on each
side from the forehead to the tips of the wing-covers; hind-
most shanks and feet blood-red, the spines tipped with black ;
wings transparent, faintly tinged witli 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 tip, with a rather large oblong square append-
age, which has a little projecting angle in the middle of the
lower side. Length, to tip of the abdomen, from 1 inch to 1^;
expands from 1^ inch to 2 inches.

This and the following species probably belong to the sub-
genus 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 acquires 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 and
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 withdraws its body and legs
from it, and leaves the cast-skin still fastened to the plant.

3. Acrydiuni femur-ruhrum. 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

* 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 hivittatus, which
possibly is the same as Serville's species above named.

152 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

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 hindmost 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 f inch to 1 inch ;
exp. 1^ to 1| 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) eri/thropvs of Gmelin, and the Acrydium femorale of
Olivier. It appears to be very generally diffused throughout
the United States, and sometimes so greatly abounds, in cer-
tain places, as to be productive of great injury to vegetation.
I have already described its prevalence on our salt-marshes;
and it seems to constitute those large migrating swarms whose
flight has been observed and recorded in various parts of this
country. It comes to maturity with us by the latter part of
July ; some broods, however, a little earlier, and others later.
It is most plentiful and destructive during the months of
August and September, and does not disappear till some
time in October.

II. LOCUSTA. Locifsts proper.

With the English entomologists, I apply the name Locusta
to that genus which includes the celebrated migrating locust,
or Gryllus Locusta mig-ratoria of Linnseus. By the older
French entomologists the insects contained in it were united
to the genus Acrydium; but Latreille afterwards separated
them from Acrydmm under the generical name of Q^dipoda
(which means swelled leg), and he is followed in this by Ser-
ville, the latest writer on the Orthoptera. In the insects of
this genus the breast is not armed with a blunt spine or tu-
bercle, a character which distinguishes the genus Acrydium
from it. In other respects these two genera are much alike.

ORTHOPTERA. 153

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 1| inch; exp. 2| to above
3i 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
summer. 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 Sep-
tember and October, immediately 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 1 to 1] inch; exp. 2\ to 2% inches.

This species closely resembles the Acridium tiibercnlatuin of
Palisot de Beauvois, which seems to be the (Edipoda 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 narrowed behind. It cannot be mistaken for the
fenestralis, which M. Serville describes as having the antennas
nearly as long as the body, whereas in this species they are
not half that length. The coral-winged locust is the first that

* Gryllus Locusta Carolinics, Linnaeus.

20

154 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

makes its appearance with wings in the spring, being found
flying about in warm and diy 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 sulphiirea. 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 -^^ to 1| inch; exp. 1| to
2^ inches.

This insect agrees tolerably well with the brief description
given by Fabricius of his Gryllus svlphureus, 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 Acridium sulphureum. It is a rare species in this vicinity.
I have taken it, though sparingly, in its perfect state, in May
and 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,
with the extreme points of the spines black. Length | to 1\
inch ; exp. 1^^^ inch to 2| inches.

ORTIIOPTERA. 155

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 v^^hich grows near the edges of our sandy
beaches, 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 lo-
cust, informed me that it was his Gri/Ilus eqimlis, probably
intended for oequalis. It is found, daring the months of July
and August, on dry barren hills and on sandy plains, upon the
scanty herbage intermingled with the reindeer moss.

6. Locusta latipennis. Broad-winged locust.

Ash-colored, mottled with black and gray; wing-covers
semitransparent 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 -^^ inch; exp.
l^Q inch.

156 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

It is possible that this may be a variety of the preceding
species, 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 yel-
low 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, nan-owed 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 j7_ to above
-^Q inch ; exp. 1^^^ to l^^^ 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 reindeer moss which
not unfrequently grow in these situations. It is marked on
the wings somewhat like the barren-ground locust, but is inva-
riably smaller, with the thorax much more contracted before
the middle. It appears, in the perfect state, from the middle
of July to the middle of October.

8. Locusta eiicerata. Long-horned locust.
Ash-colored, variegated with gray and dark brown ; antennas
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 line, which is interrupted
by two notches; wing-covers and wings long and narrow; the

ORTIIOPTERA.

157

former variegated with dusky spots, and semitransparent at
tip; wings next to the body yellow, sometimes pale, sometimes
deep and almost orange colored, at other times uncolored and
semitransparent; with a broad black band across the middle,
which is narrowed 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.whitish, 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 | inch to -^^ inch ; exp. 1^
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 the 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 pale, 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 -^q inch ^o
more than ly% inch ; exp. from 1 1 inch to more than 2 inches.

A very common species, and easily known by its clouded
wing-covers and colorless wings. It abounds in pastures, and
even in corn-fields and gardens, during the months of Septem-
ber 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 antennee shorter than the thorax, and sHghtly thick-
ened towards 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 sub-

158 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

genus, which may receive the name of Tragocephala, or goat-
headed locusts.

10. Locusta ( Tragocephala) infuscata. Dusky locust.

Dusky brown; thorax with a slender keel-like elevation;
wing-covers faintly spotted with brown; wings transparent,
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 margin ; hind thighs pale, with two large black spots on
the inside; hind shanks brown, with darker spines, and a broad
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 antennae
and the dusky cloud on the hinder margin of the wings. I
have captured 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 described before.

11. Locusta {Tragocephala) viridi-fasciata. Green-striped

locust.

Green ; thorax keeled above ; wing-covers with a broad gi-een
stripe on the outer margin extending from the base beyond the
middle and including two small dusky spots on the edge, the
remainder dusky but semitransparent at the end ; wings trans-
parent, 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 margin ; antennae, 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 Acrydium viridi-f as datum of De Geer,
who was the first describer of it, the Gryllus Virginianus of
Fabricius, the Gryllus Locusta chrysomelas of Gmelin, the
Acrydium marginatum of Olivier, and the Acridium he?)iipterum
of Palisot de Beauvois. It is remarkable that a species, so
strongly marked as this is, should have been so profusely

ORTIIOPTERA. 159

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 Hemipterous insects.
It is very common in pastures 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 earlier, 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 gardens,
living upon the leaves of vegetables and flowers, and attacking
the buds and half expanded petals. The larvae or young sur-
vive the winter, sheltered among the roots of grass and under
leaves.

12. Lociista ( Tragocephala) radiata. Radiated locust.

Rust-brown; thorax keeled above; wing-covers entirely
brown, but semiti'ansparent 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 1| 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 Caro-
lina 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 tow^ards the end. The eyes are oval and
obhque, 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

160 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

threadlike elevated 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 Chlocaltis, derived from the Greek, and signifying a grass-
hopper.

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 -^^ inch.

This may be merely a variety of the following species,
though very differently colored.

14. Locusta ( Chlocaltis) abortiva. Abortive locust.

Brown; wing-covers with dark brown veins and confluent
spots, covering two thirds of the abdomen; wings three twen-
tieths of an inch long, transparent, with dusky lines 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 -^^ inch.

This and the preceding locust, have much the appearance
of pupEB 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. Locifsla ( Chlocaltis) 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
thuds of the abdomen ; wings rather shorter than the wing-

I

ORTIIOPTERA. 161

covers, transparent, and faintly tinged with yellow; hinder
knees black; spines on the hind shanks tipped with black.
Length from I to more than -^^ inch ; exp. from -^^ to nearly 1
inch.

The flight of the short-winged locust is noiseless and short,
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 distin-
guished 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 fan-
cied some resemblance to the bird in question. Linn«us
placed these locusts in a division of his genus Gryllus, which
he called BiiUa, a name that ought to have been retained for
them. The principal distinguishing 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 beneath the pro-
jecting thorax. The four boring appendages of the females
are notched on their edges with fine teeth, like a saw. La-
treille 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. Antennce 14-Jointed; eyes very prominent^ with a project-
ing ridge between them^ formed by a horizontal extension of the
fiat top of the head; thorax prolonged beyond the extremity of
the body.

21

162 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

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 |J- to -^^ 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*

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 ex-
tending beyond the apex of the thorax. Length ^ 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 -z^-^ to ^^ of
an inch.

This is a shorter and thicker species than the ornamented
grouse-locust. It is not uncommon in pastures from the first
of May to the first of June.

4. Tetrix bilineata. 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 gV ^o more than 2^^^ 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

* American Entomology. Vol. I. plate 5.

ORTHOPTERA. 163

have received a specimen from Dr. D. S. C. H. Smith, of Sut-
ton, Massachusetts.

II. Antenyice 22-jointed ; eyes hardly prominent, top of the
head not horizontal between them, but curving towards the front,
with a very slightly projecting ridge; ivings 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 face and the edges of the lateral margins of the thorax
yellow. Length from ^^ to -^^ of an inch.

This species was first described by Mr. Say under the name
of Acrydinm laterale* 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 2^^^ inch.

This species is much shorter and thicker than the Tetrix
lateralis. I have taken it in April and May, in the perfect
state, and have found the pupae 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 extremely 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

* American Entomology. Vol. I. plate 6.

164 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

generally found about midsummer, and are readily distin-
guished by the thorax, which is somewhat 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 Orthoptera
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 checking and destroying them should be fully ex-
plained. 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 then-
structure, their scientific arrangement, and their economy or
history. In doing this, he opens to others the way to a suc-
cessful 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 tiu-ned out of the ground in little masses
cemented and covered with a sort of gum in which they are
enveloped by the insects. Rewards are offered and paid for
their collection, half a franc being given for a kilogramme
(about 2 lb. 3| oz. avoirdupois) 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, sLx thousand two
hundred francs were paid in Marseilles. It is stated that an
active boy can collect from six to seven kilogrammes (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

ORTHOPTERA. 165

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 horserake, in gathering the insects into win-
rows 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 published in the " New Eng-
land 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 neighbor's grain fields, five bushels and three
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 considerably from the ground, so that the grass-
hoppers could not escape. 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, where 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
burdensome (their weight is about the same as that of the
same measure of corn), the bag was opened 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 ho2:s." When these insects

* See Annales de la Soci6t6 Entomologique de France. Vol. II. pp. 486-489.
t Vol. V. p. 5.

166 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

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 suf-
fered much loss. The time for doing this will be determined
by data furnished 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 con-
sequently perish on the ground for the want of food, while a
tolerable crop of hay will be secured, and the marshes will
suft'er less from the insects during the following 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 neighbors,
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 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-like 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 Ocypete; 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.

HEMIPTERA. 167

HEMIPTERA.

Bugs. — SauASH-Bua. Chinch-Bug. Plant-Bugs. — Harvest-Fi-ies. — Tree-
HoppERS. Leaf-Hoppers. Vine-IIopper. Bean-Hoppeu. — Thuips. —
Plant-Lice. American Bught. — Enemies of Plant-Lice. — Bakk-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 bugbear, 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 dislike or terror. At present, how-
ever, 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 preeminence; the real, by an easy transi-
tion 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
insects, 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 its
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
wing-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 construction of their wing-
covers, the hinder half of which is thin and filmy like the
wings, while the fore part is thick and opake. There are,
however, other insects provided with the same kind of beak,

168 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

but having the wing-covers sometimes entirely transparent,
and sometimes more or less opake, and these, by most ento-
mologists, are also classed among Hcmipterous insects, because
they come much nearer to them than to any other insects, in
structure and habits. Bugs, like 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 develop-
ment 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 live 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 successive 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 horizontally 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 hori-
zontal, and the beak issues from the fore part 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 (Hemiptera
homoptera), in which the wing-covers are, as the scientific name
implies, of one texture throughout, and are either entirely thin
and transparent, like wings, or somewhat thicker and opake;
they are not horizontal, and do not cross each other at their
extremities, but, together with the wings, are more or less in-
clined at the sides of the body, like the wing-covers of locusts ;
the face is either veitical, or slopes obliquely under the body.

HEMIPTERA. 169

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.

I. BUGS. {Hemlptera keteroptera.)

The hemipterous insects belonging to this division are vari-
ous 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, Corens 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
mcesttts, having, ho^vever, the same meaning. Fabricius called
it Coreus rifg-ator, the latter word signifying one who wrinkles,
which was probably applied to this insect, because its punc-
tures 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, redescribed 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.
Corens, its generical name, was altered by Fabricius fi'om
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 quar-
ters, and when the vines of the squash have put forth a few
rough leaves, the bugs meet beneath their shelter, pair, and
22

no INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

immediately afterwards begin to lay their eggs. This usually
happens about the last of June or beginning of July, 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 place where they generally re-
main during the daytime, apparently to escape observation;
but at night they leave the ground, get beneath the leaves,
and lay their eggs in little patches, fastening 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 antennce, 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 fm^nished
with wing-covers and wings, during the months of September
and October. In this last state the squash-bug measures 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 overlapping
portion of the wing-covers is black; the wings are ti'ansparent,
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

IIEMIPTERA. 171

insect is really ochvo-yollcnv, and the rnsty black hue of the
head, thorax, thick part of the wing-covers, and legs, is occa-
sioned by numerous black punctures, that, on the head, arc
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 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. Eye-
lets are also to be found in grasshoppers, locusts, and many
other insects. In some of our species of Coreus there is a
little thorn at the base of the antenna^, 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
aftersvards. 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 liable to suffer by the exhausting
punctures of the young bugs. Water drained from a cow-

* They appear to belong to the genus Gonocerus of Burmeister.

172 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

yard, and similar preparations, have, with this intent, been
applied with benefit.

The wheat-fields and corn-fields of the South and West
often suffer severely from the depredations of certain minute
bugs, long known there by the name of chinch-bugs, which
fortunately have not yet been observed in New England.* It
is not improbable, however, that they may spread in this
direction, and attack our growing grain and other crops. In
anticipation of such a sad event, and to gratify a curiosity
that has been expressed concerning these offensive insects, I
venture to offer a few remarks upon them. Attention seems
early to have been directed to them. They are mentioned in
the eleventh volume of Young's " Annals of Agriculture,"
published, I believe, about 1788. From this work Messrs.
Kirby and Spence probably obtained the following account,
contained in the fij-st volume of their interesting " Introduction
to Entomology." " America suffers in its wheat and maize
from the attack of an insect, which, for what reason I know
not, is called the chinch-bug fly. It appears to be apterous,
and is said in scent and color to resemble the bed-bug. They
travel in immense columns from field to field, like locusts,
destroying everything as they proceed; but their injuries are
confined to the States south of the 40th degree of north lati-
tude. From this account," add Kirby and Spence, "the depre-
dator here noticed should belong to the tribe Geocoriscc, Latr. ;
but it seems very difficult to conceive how an insect that lives
by suction, and has no mandibles, could destroy these plants
so totally." I have ascertained, from an examination of living
specimens, that the chinch-bug is the Lygmus leucopterus, or
white-winged Lygseus, described by Mr. Say, in December,
1831, in a rare little pamphlet on the " Heteropterous Hemiptera
of North America." It appears, moreover, to belong to the
modern genus Rhyparochromus. In its perfect state it is not
apterous, but is provided with wings, and then measures about

* While this sheet is passing through the press, I have to record the discovery
of one of these bugs in my own garden, on the 17th of June, 18o2.

HEMIPTERA. 173

three twentieths of an inch in length. It is readily distinguished
by its white wing-covers, upon each of which there is a short
central line and a large marginal oval spot of a black color.
The rest of the body is black and downy, except the beak, the
legs, the antennae at base, and the hinder edge of the thorax,
which arc reddish yellow, and the fore part of the thorax,
which has a grayish lustre. The young and wingless indi-
viduals are at first bright red, changing with age to brown and
black, and are always marked with a white band across the
back. It is a mistake that these insects are confined to the
States south of the 40th degree ; for I have been favored with
them by Professor Lathrop, of Beloit College, Wisconsin, and
by Dr. Le Baron, of Geneva, Illinois. The latter gentleman
had no difficulty in obtaining a sufficient number without
going out of his own garden. The eggs of the chinch-bug
are laid in the ground, in which the young have been found,
in great abundance, at the depth of an inch or more. They
make their appearance on wheat about the middle of June,
and may be seen in their various stages of growth on all kinds
of grain, on corn, and on herds-grass, during the whole sum-
mer. Some of them continue alive through the winter in
their places of concealment. A very good account of these
destructive bugs, with an enlarged figure, will be found in the
" Prairie Farmer," for December, 1845. In the same publica-
tion, for September, 1850, there is an excellent description of
the chinch-bug, by Dr. Le Baron, who, not being aware that
it had been previously named by ]VIr. Say, called it Rhyparo-
chromus devastator.

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 swarmed with immense numbers of
little 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 bal-
sams, with which I had stocked a little border around my house.
In the garden of my friends the Messrs. Hovey, at Cambridge-
port, I observed, about the same time, that these insects were
committing sad havoc, and was informed that various means

174 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

had been tried to destroy or expel them without effect. On
visiting my potato-patch shortly afterwards, I found the insects
there also in great numbers on the vines; and, from informa-
tion worthy of credit, am inclined to believe 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, terminal 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 then- 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, after being warmed
by the sun, they became exceedingly active, and, on the ap-
proach 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. In July, 1851, some of these insects were
sent to me by a gentleman, who brought them from St. Johns-
bury, Vt, where they were confidently believed to be the
cause of the potato-rot.

This kind of bug is the Phytocoris lineolaris, a variety of
which was first described and figured by Palisot de Beauvois
under 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 belonging to the genus Phytocoris* (which means
plant-bug) are 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 follow-
ing characters. Eyelets wanting; antennae four-jointed, with

* This new genus, or sub-genus was instituted by Fallen, and is not noticed
by Latroille 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.

IIEMIPTERA. 175

the first and second joints much thicker than the last two,
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 ofT, and the broadest side applied to the base of the wing-
covers ; the latter, when folded, cover the whole of the abdomen,
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 Massachusetts, a good many species belonging to
this genus; but, in my Catalogue of the insects of this Com-
monwealth, they are included among the species of Capsus,
which, indeed, they closely resemble. The Phytocoris lineola-
ris, 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
thu-d 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 immediately 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 longitudinal veins some-
times 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
marked with a yellowish line or a longitudinal series of yellow
spots on each side of the middle ; the legs are dirty brownish

176 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

yellow, 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 lines 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 characters, which readily afford
the means of identifying the species. I have taken this in-
sect 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 Ter-
ritory, 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
observed; and the insects, during the early periods of their
existence, 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
afford some aid in devising proper remedies against their ra-
vages. Upon a limited scale, as on plants growing in our
gardens, may be tried the effect of sprinkling them with alka-
line solutions, such as strong soapsuds, or potash-water, or
with decoctions of tobacco and of walnut leaves, or of dust-
ing the plants with air-slacked lime or sulphur. But in field
husbandry such applications would be impracticable. 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

IIEMIPTERA. 177

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. Mean-
while, 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 derived from their de-
struction of insects.

II. HARVEST-FLIES, &c. {Ilemiptera Ilomoptera.)

By many entomologists this division is raised to the rank of
a separate order, under the name of Homoptera; but the in-
sects 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 subor-
dinate importance compared with other orders.

The insects belonging to this division are divided by natu-
ralists into three large groups, or tribes.

1. Harvest-flies, or Cicadians (Cicadad.e); having short
antenna?, 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.e); having antennas longer than the
head, and threadlike or tapering from the root to the end;
wing-covers 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^e); 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

23

178 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

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.

1, Harvest-flies. ( Cicadadcs.)
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 elevation 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 descrip-
tion 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 instruments 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 locust 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, gathered into numerous fine plaits,
and, in the species above named, are lodged in cavities 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 re-
lax, which they do with great rapidity, the drum-heads are
alternately tightened and loosened, recovering their natural
convexity by their own elasticity. The effect of this rapid
alternate tension and relaxation is the production of a rattling
sound, like 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 insect, which may be seen on

IIEMIPTERA. 179

raising tv^J^o large valves beneath the belly, and which arc
separated from each other by thin partitions having the trans-
parency 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, but are
covered by convex triangular pieces on each side of the first
ring behind the thorax, which must be cut away in order to
expose them. On raising the large valves of the belly, how-
ever, tliere 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 extremity 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 leaping. 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
increase 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 vegetable matter, come more quickly to
their growth than caterpillars and other insects which devour
living plants ; the former are appointed to remove an offensive

180 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

nuisance, and do their work quickly; the latter have a longer
time assigned to them, corresponding in some degree to the
progress or continuance of vegetation. 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 last only for a season, and require no
laborious efforts to be prepared for food. The harvest-flies
continue only a few weeks after their final transformation, 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
previous 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 retreats, a remarkable longevity is as-
signed to them; and one species 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, and in the valley of the Connecticut river, as
far north at least as Hadley; but does not seem to have ex-
tended to other parts of the State. The earliest account that
we have of it is contained 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 1G33. " 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 Secretary Morton's
" Memorial," states that these insects appeared in Plymouth,

HEMIPTERA. 181

Sandwich, and Falmouth, in the year 1804; but, if the exact
period of seventeen years had been observed, they shoukl 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
testimony of many persons of undoubted veracity. Their
occurrence in large swarms at long 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 following extract from a letter* from the late
Rev. Ezra Shaw Goodwin, of Sandwich, contains some in-
teresting particulars which this gentleman had the kindness to
communicate to me.

" I have not been unmindful of what you said to me respect-
ing 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 remem-
brance of all, though fixed by different events, concurred in
establishing the same years for the appearance 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 creep-
ing 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 with-

• Dated Oct. 19, 1832.

182 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

drawing of the living animal, as much so as does the snake's
skin after he has left it. Thus these skins lay in immense
numbers under the trees, entirely empty, and perfect in shape.
The winged insects did not, so far as I could ascertain, 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 oif below
the eggs, so that the wind could twist off the extreme part
containing the eggs, and let it fall to the ground. In this way
they injured the trees extensively. The forest had a gloomy
appearance 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, cer-
tainly, 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
November, 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 occurred, 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 furthermore con-
firmed by the observations of various persons* who have

* Among the authorities which I have consulted upon the history of the seven-
teen-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

HEMIPTERA. 183

published accounts of the occurrence of these insects in the
Middle, Southern, and Western States, where, at regular in-
tervals 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 scplcndcdm) : Maryland, 1749, 1706, 1783, 1800, 1817,
1834; South Carolina 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, Pennsylvania, 1715, 1766, 1783,
1800, 1817;* Marietta, Ohio, 1795, 1812; Plymouth, 1633,
1804; Sandwich, 1787, 1804,1821; Hadley, 1818; Westfield,
1835; North Haven, Conn., 1724, 1741, 1758, 1792, 1809, 1826,
1843 ; Genesee County, New York, 1832 ; Martha's Vineyard,
1833. From information derived from various sources it ap-
pears* that this species is widely spread over the country, with
the exception only of the northern parts of New England;
and that it may be seen in some portion of the United States
-^most 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
descendants of one particular family or swarm will ordinarily

"Medical Repository," p. 71 ; the " Columbian Magazine," vol. 1, pages 86 and
108; Mr. Moses Bartram's account in Dodsley's "Annual Register" for 1767,
p. 103; Dr. McMurtrie, in the 8th vol. of the "Encyclopaedia Americana," p.
43 ; Dr. S. P. Hildrcth's interesting account in the 10th vol. of Silliman's
"American Journal of Science," p. 327; and a pamphlet entitled "Notes on
the Locusta," Sec, with which I have been favored by the author. Professor
Nathaniel Potter, of Ealtimore. This last work is exclusively devoted to the
history of this insect, and has afforded me much valuable information. From
these various sources I have selected the principal facts which follow. Mr.
CoUins's "Observations on the Cicada of North America," published in the
" Philosophical Transactions" of London, vol. 54, p. 65, with a plate, probably
refer to the seventeen-year Cicada, but the insects figured are not the same, and
seem to be the Cicada pruinosa of Mr. Say.

* A writer in the "United States Gazette " records the appearance of these
insects in great numbers in Gcrmantown, Pennsylvania, on the 25tk of May, at
four successive periods.

184 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

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 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 ex-
pand from 2J to 3^ inches.

In those parts of Massachusetts which are subject to the
visitation of this Cicada, it may be seen in forests of oak about
the middle of June. Here such immense numbers are some-
times 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 put-
ting 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 repetition 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

nEMIPTEllA. 185

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 limb ; 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 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 provide for a succession of
her kind, as to falter and fall in attemiDting 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 impelled by the necessity for depositing their eggs, and
not unfrequently 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 are 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 Miss Morris says
in fortj^-two days, and other persons say in fourteen days.

The young insect when it bursts the shell is one sixteenth of

* Sec also my communication in Downing's Horticulturist, Vol. Ill, p. 278,
Dec, 1848.

24

186 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO A'EGETATION.

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 fur-
nished 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 beak 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 themselves precipi-
tately; but running to the side of the limb, 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, with-
out any clue, like that of the canker-worm, to carry them in
safety through the air and break the force of their fall. The
instinct which impels them thus fearlessly to precipitate them-
selves from the trees, from heights of which they can have
formed no conception, without any experience or knowledge
of the result 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 extraordi-
nary 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 perhaps, if it had
not been ascertained and repeatedly confirmed by persons who

IIEMIPTERA. 187

have witnessed tlie proceeding. On reaching the gronnd the
insects immediately bury themselves in the soil, burrowing ])y
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
imbibing the vegetable juices which constitute their sole nour-
ishment.

Miss Margaretta H. Morris, who attributes the decline of
the pear-tree and the failure of its fruit to depredations of the
young Cicadas on its roots, has given interesting accounts of
her observations upon these insects. On removing the earth
from "a pear-tree that had been declining for years, without
any apparent cause," she "found the larvfe of the Cicada in
countless numbers clinging to the roots of the tree, with their
suckers piercing the bark, and so deep and firmly placed, that
they remained hanging for half an hour after being removed
from the earth. From a root a yard long, and about an inch
in diameter, she gathered twenty-three larva^; they were of
various sizes, from a quarter of an inch to an inch in length.
They were on all the roots that grew deeper than six inches
below the surface. The roots were unhealthy, and bore the
appearance of external injury from small punctures. On
removing the outer coat of bark, this appearance increased,
leaving no doubt as to the cause of the disease." *

The grubs 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 dis-
covered 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 which the insects are subject, during the
long period of their subterranean confinement, is an increase
of size, and the more complete development of the four small

* Proceedings of the Academy of Xatural Sciences, Philadelphia, Nov. and
Dee., 1846 ; and Downing's Horticulturist, Vol. II. p. 16. July, 1847.

188 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

scale-like prominences on their backs, which represent and
actually contain their future wings.

As the time of their transformation approaches, they gradu-
ally ascend towards the surface, making in their progress
cylindrical passages, oftentimes very circuitous, and seldom
exactly perpendicular, 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 com-
pactness of thek 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 re-
tain something of a grub-like form, acquire strength for further
efibrts 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 object 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 meantime, 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 Cicada pushes its
head and body, and withdraws its wings and limbs from their
separate cases, and, crawling to a little 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 flexible, they soon stretch out to
their full dimensions, and in the course of a few hours the

IIEMIPTERA. 189

superfluous moisture of the body evaporates, and the insect
becomes strong enough to fly.

During several successive nights the pupa? continue to issue
from tlie 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 consideration 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 gener-
ation 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 transforma-
tion, 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 perfora-
tions 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

190 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

more common or more generally met with throughout the
State. It may be called the dog-day harvest-fly, or Cicada
canicularis, from the circumstance of its invariably appearing
w^ith the beginning of dog-days. During many years in suc-
cession, 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 be-
tween the hours of ten in the morning and two in the after-
noon. 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 sLx 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 the wing-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 tips 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.* I am not aware

* The form and proportions of the abdominal valves have decided me to
separate the canicitlaris from Mr. Say's prumosa, although, with the exception
of their difference in size, they present no other constant characters -which will
invariably serve to distinguish them from each other.

I

HEMIPTERA. 191

that the females of the dog-day harvest-fly prefer to hiy their
eggs ill one rather than in another kind of tree; for I liave
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 considerably larger. Some individuals of this
species continue with us as late as the end of September. As
they are not very numerous, 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 hindmost shanks, or to the bristles
and spines with which these parts are clothed and tipped.
These spines serve to fix the hind legs securely to the surface,
and, when the insect suddenly unbends its legs, its body is
launched forward in the air. Some of these harvest-flies,
w^hen 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 an* 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 akeady been made ; and, as they are found
mostly on the limbs of trees and shrubs, they may receive the
name of tree-hoppers.* In others the face slopes downwards

* Mr. Rennie, in the " Library of Entertaining Knowledge," has misapplied
this name to the Cicadas, -which do not leap.

192 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

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 familiarly 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 productive 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 Memhracis
camelus of Fabricius, and the vau of my Catalogue. To these
the name of Membracis, which means sharp-edged, is most
applicable. In other species {31. emarffinata and sinuata 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 middle, but only in some part;
thus M. Ampelopsidis has an oblong square crest on the middle
of the thorax; M. bimaculata of Fabricius and univittata of my
Catalogue have a thin horn-like projection, blunt, however, at
the end, extending obliquely forwards and upwards from the
fore part of the thorax ; and M. binotata 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 fore part, 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 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

HEMIPTERA. 193

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 himaculala* of Fabricius, which may
be found in great abundance on the limbs of the locust-tree
{Robinia pseudacacia) during the months of September and
October. These, as well as other tree-hoppers, show but little
activity when undisturbed, remaining without motion for hours
together on the limbs of the trees ; but, on the approach of the
fingers, they leap vigorously, 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 fore part of
the body towards the extremity 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 undoubtedly 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 re-
semblance 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
race. Many other examples of the same kind might be men-
tioned, 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
with 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,

* Fabricius describes the male only under this name ; the female is his Mem-
hracis acuminata. This species belongs to Trofessor Germar's new genus Hemi-
ptycha.

25

194 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

which remains to be described; — 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 unem-
ployed; but puncture the bark with their sharp and slender
beaks, and imbibe the sap for nourishment. 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 ob-
liquely upwards from its fore part, and there is a white line on
the back, extending from the top of the horn to the hinder
extremity.

The common creeper [Ampelopsis quinquefolia) is inhabited
by a tree-hopper, which has an oblong square and thin eleva-
tion 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 ex-
tends transversely between the lateral projecting angles of the
thorax, the second is a short and 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

HEMIPTERA. 195

forwards on each side to the top of the hind part of the crest.
This species may be called Membracis Ampelopsidis* 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 ascending 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, accompanied 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 side-
wise 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 mod-
erate size, not tapering to a point behind, and not covering
the whole body as in the preceding species. Their heads are

• It is the Membracis Cissi of my Catalogue.

196 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

visible from above, and the face slopes downwards towards
the breast.

Here may be arranged the singular insects called frog-
hoppers (Cercopidid.e), which pass their whole lives on plants,
on the stems of wliich their eggs are laid in the autumn. The
following summer they are hatched, and the young immedi-
ately 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 re-
main entirely buried and concealed 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 aii', 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
summer, fully grown and preparing to lay their eggs. In this
state they possess the power of leaping in a still more remark-
able degree 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 w^ing-covers are almost hori-
zontal and quite broad across the middle, which, with the
shortness of their legs, gives them a squat appearance.*

The leaf-hoppers (Tettigoniad.e) 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

* The following species are found in Massachusetts, namely : Cercopis igiii-
pecta of my Catalogue, and the parallela, quadrangularis, and obtusa, of Say.
The last three belong to Germar's genus Apfirophora, which means spume-
bearer. Cercopis, which may be translated impostor, was applied by the Greeks
to a small Cicada.

IIEMIPTERA. 197

with numerous long and slender spines, which contribute, like
the coronets of the frog-hoppers, to fix their shanks firmly
when they are about to leap. The leaf-hoppers have been
divided, by Professor Germar and other entomologists, into
many genera, according to the 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 Tettigonia^
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 Tettix. The Tettigonians,
or leaf-hoppers, have the head and thorax somewhat like those
of frog-hoppers, but their bodies are, in general, proportionally
longer, not so broad across the middle, and not so much flat-
tened. 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 inclined 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. Notwith-
standing the smaU size of most of these insects, they are
deserving our attention on account of their beauty, delicacy,
and surprising agility, as well as for the injury sustained by
vegetation from them.

It is stated by the late Mr. Fessendcn, in the " New Ameri-
can Gardener," that some persons in this country have entirely
"abandoned their grape-vines" in consequence of the depreda-

198 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 naine of Tettig'onia 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 little 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 situ-
ated just below the ridge of the front. 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
and 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
nourishment 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, throughovit 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 infested leaves at
length become yellow, sickly, and prematurely dry, and give to
the vine at midsummer the aspect it naturally assumes on the
approach of winter. But this is not the only injury arising

* Article Locust, p. 43.

IIEMIPTERA. 199

from the exhausting punctures of the vine-hoppers. In conse-
quence of the interruption of the important functions of the
leaves, the plant itself languishes, the stem docs 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 mildews, and, if the evil be allowed to go on unchecked,
in a few years the vines become exhausted, barren, and worth-
less. In the autumn the vine-hoppers desert the vines, and
retire for shelter during the coming winter beneath fallen leaves
and among the decayed 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 perish. As the vine-hoppers are
much more hardy and more vivacious than the European vine-
fretters or plant-lice, the applications that have proved destruc-
tive to the latter are by no means so efficacious with the former.
Fumigations with tobacco, beneath a movable tent placed over
the trellisses, answer the purpose completely.* They require
frequent repetition, and considerable care is necessary to pre-
vent the escape and ensure the destruction of the insects;
circumstances which render the discovery of some more expe-
ditious method an object to those whose vineyards are extensive.
There is another little leaf-hopper that has been mistaken
for a vine-fretter or Thrips, though never found upon the grape-
vine. It lives upon the leaves of rose-bushes, and is very
injurious to them. In its perfect state it is rather less than
three twentieths of an inch long. Its body is yellowish white,
its wing-covers and wings are white and transparent, and its
eyes, claws, and piercer brown. The male has two recurved
appendages at the tip of its hind body. It may be called
Tettig-onia Rosce.f Swarms of these insects may be found,
in various stages of growth, on the leaves of the rose-bush,
through the greater part of summer, and even in winter upon

* See Fessenden's " New American Gardener," p. 299, for a description of the
tent and of the process of fumigation.

t This insect may be the Cicada Rosce of Linnaeus, or lassus Rosm of Fabri-
cius. It belongs to Dr. Fitch's genus Empoa, as also does Tettigonia Fabce. The
Tettigonia Vitis is an Erythroneura of the same author.

200 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

housed plants. Their numerous cast skins may be seen ad-
hering to the lower side of the leaves. They pair and lay
their eggs about the middle of June, and they probably live
through the winter in the perfect state, concealed under fallen
leaves and rubbish on the surface of the ground. Fumigations
with tobacco, and the application of a solution of whale-oil
soap in water with a syringe, are the best means for destroying
these leaf-hoppers.

I have found that the Windsor bean, a variety of the Vicia
Faba of Linnseus, 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 pro-
portion 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, 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 time is
finished, and the plants have suffered so much that all pros-
pect of a second crop of beans, from new shoots produced
after the old stems are cut down, is frustrated. These leaf-
hoppers have the same agility in their motions, and apparently
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

HEMIPTERA. 201

tenth, but less than three twentieths of an inch. It may be
called Tctfig-onia Fabcc. Probably it passes the winter in the
same way as the vine-hopper.

2. Pr-ANT-LicE. (Aphididcc.)

The Aphidians, in which gronp we include the insects
commonly known by the name of plant-lice, difi'er remarkably
from all the foregoing in their appearance, their formation,
and their manner 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 antennoB are pretty
long and thread-like, and are tipped with two short 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 insects. With this they prick the leaves in
which they deposit their eggs, and the wounds thus made
sometimes produce little excrescences or swellings on the
plant. These leaping plant-lice belong to a genus called
Psi/lla, which was the Greek name for a small jumping in-
sect. They are by no means so prolific as the other plant-lice,
for ordinarily 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 the}^
imbibe through their tubular beaks. The yonng 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.

Within a few years, a kind of Ps//Ila, before unknown here,
has appeared upon pear-trees in the western parts of Connecti-
• 26

202 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

cut and of Massachusetts, particularly in the valley of the
Housatonic, and in the adjoining counties of Dutchess and
Columbia in New York. It was first made known to me, in
December, 1848, by Dr. Ovid Plumb, of Salisbury, Connecticut,
and it is the subject of a communication in the " American
Agriculturist," for January, 1849. Since that time. Dr. Plumb
has favored me with additional observations, and an account
of his experiments with various remedies, and, towards the
end of July, 1851, a brief visit to Salisbury gave me an oppor-
tunity of seeing the insects in a living condition, and in the
midst of their operations upon the trees. This Psylla^ or
jumping plant-louse, is one of the kinds whose young are
naked, or not covered with a coat of cotton. In some of its
forms it is found on pear-trees during most of the time from
May to October; and probably two if not more broods are
produced in the course of the summer. It was first observed
by Dr. Plumb in the spring of 1833, on some imported pear-
trees, which had been set the year before. These trees, in the
autumn after they were planted, wore an unhealthy aspect,
and had patches of a blackish rust upon their branches. Dur-
ing the second summer, these trees died; and other trees, upon
which the same rusty matter was found, proved to be infested
with the same insects. Like the aphides, or plant-lice, these
insects live by suction. By means of their suckers, which
come from the lower side of the head near the breast, they
puncture the bark of the twigs and small branches, and imbibe
the sap. They soon gorge themselves to such a degree, that
the fluid issues constantly from their bodies in drops, is thrown
over the surface of the twigs, and, mingled with their more
solid castings, defiles the bark, and gives it the blackish color
above noticed. Swarms of flies and ants upon the trees are a
sure indication of the presence of these sap-suckers, being
attracted by the sweetish fluid thrown out by them. Young
trees suffer excessively by the attacks of these insects, nor do
old trees escape without injury from them. In consequence
apparently of their ravages alone. Dr. Plumb lost several hun-
dred pear-trees from 1834 to 1838 inclusive; his trees have
continued to suffer, to some extent, from this cause since that

HEMIPTERA. 203

time; and he informs me that the same destructive depreda-
tions have been observed in all the adjacent region. On the
23d of July, I saw these insects on the trees, some already-
provided with wings, and others advancing towards maturity.
The young ones were of a dull orange yellow color. They
were short, and were obtuse behind, and had little wing-scales
on the sides of their bodies. The perfect, or winged individu-
als, were about one tenth of an inch long from the forehead
to the tips of the closed wings. The front of the head was
notched in the middle. The eyes were large and prominent.
The head and thorax were brownish orange, and the hind body
greenish. Their four ample wings were colorless and trans-
parent, and were marked with a few dark veins. The body of
the female is pointed at the end, and inclines to a reddish hue.
The pear-tree, in Europe, is subject to the attacks of a similar
insect, called Psylla Pi/ri, the pear-tree Psylla. The European
species is said to vary in color at different ages, and in different
seasons of the year, being of a dull crimson color, shaded
with black in the spring, when it comes forth to lay its eggs.
Not having seen any of our pear-tree Psijllce in their spring
dress, I cannot say whether they agree with those of Europe
in being of the same crimson color at this season of the year.
As, however, they do correspond very nearly in other respects
to the descriptions given of the European species, and have
precisely the same destructive habits, and as they were first
detected upon imported pear-trees, I apprehend that they were
introduced from abroad, and that they will prove to be the
same species as the European Psylla Pyri. The following
particulars, abridged from KoUar's " Treatise," if confirmed by
future observations, will serve to complete the history of the
American insect. The European pear-tree Psylla comes forth
from its winter retreat, provided with wings, as soon as the
buds of fruit trees begin to expand. After pairing, the female
lays her eggs in great numbers near each other on the young
leaves and blossoms, or on the newly-formed fruit and shoots.
The eggs are oblong, yellowish, and look somewhat like grains
of pollen. The young insects hatched therefrom resemble
wingless plant-lice, and are of a dark yellow color. They

204 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

change their skins and color repeatedly, and acquire wing-
scales, or rudimentary wings. They then fix themselves to
the bark in rows, and remain sucking the sap till their last
change approaches, at which time they disperse among the
leaves, cast off their skins, and appear in the winged form.
When considerable numbers attack a pear-tree, the latter soon
assumes an unhealthy appearance, its growth is checked, its
leaves and shoots curl up, and the tree dies by degrees, if not
freed from its troublesome guests. Kollar recommends brush-
ing off the insects, when young, with a brush of hog's bristles,
and crushing under foot those that fall ; and also advises to
search for the winged females in the spring, and destroy them
by hand. Such a process would be altogether too tedious
and uncertain here. I would therefore suggest the expedi-
ency of washing the tvvigs with a brush dipped in a mixture
of strong soapsuds and flour of sulphur. If this be done
before the buds expand, the latter will not be injured thereby,
while the application will be likely to deter the insects from
laying their eggs on the tree. A weaker application of the
same, or the common solution of whale-oil soap, may wsuffice
to kill the young insects after they have fastened themselves
upon the bark. If the latter be thrown upon the trees with a
syringe, it will destroy the insects on the leaves also.

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
exceedingly 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 TJirlps. Their punctures appear to poison
plants, and often produce deformities in the leaves and blos-
soms. 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

HEMIPTERA. 205

upon plants infested with the Thrips. Mrs. N. G. S. Gage,
formerly of Concord, N. IL, to whom I am indebted for much
valuable information respecting the wheat-fly, or Cecidomyia
Tritici, has discovered another pernicious insect in the ears of
ffrowinsr wheat. It seems to agree with the accounts of the
Thrips cerealium, which, sometimes infests wheat, in Europe,
to a great extent. This insect, in its larva state, is smaller
than the wheat maggot, is orange-colored, and is provided
with six legs, two antennae, and a short beak, and is very
nimble in its motions. It is supposed to suck out the juices
of the seed, thus causing the latter to shrink, and become what
the English farmers call pungled. This little pest may proba-
bly be destroyed by giving the grain a thorough coating of
slacked lime.

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 harbor
one or two kinds peculiar to itself. They are, moreover, ex-
ceedingly prolific, for Reaumur has proved that one individual,
in five generations, may become the progenitor of nearly six
thousand millions of descendants. It often happens that the
succulent extremities 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 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-lice 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 arc 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, then- beaks

206 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

are very long and tubular, their eyes are globular, but they
have not eyelets, their antennae are long, and usually taper
towards the extremity, 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 ex-
tremity, and nearly triangular; they are almost vertical when
at rest, and cover the body above like a very sharp-ridged roof.

The winged plant-lice 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 maturity. In this state, it is found that the brood,
without a single exception, consists wholly 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 produced, even to the seventh
generation or more, without the appearance or intervention,
throughout the whole season, of a single male. This extraor-
dinary 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 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 manners 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, suspended by their beaks alone, and throwing up their
legs as if in a high frolic, but too much engaged in sucking to

HEMIPTERA.

207

withdraw their beaks. As tliey take in great quantities of sap,
they would soon become gorged if they did not get rid of tlie
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 sticky fluid, which, on drying, become
dark colored, and greatly disfigure the foliage. This appear-
ance 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 apprised of the presence of plant-lice on plants grow-
ing in the open air by the ants ascending and descending the
stems. By observing the motions of the latter we soon ascer-
tain that the sweet fluid discharged by the lice is the occasion
of these visits. The stems swarm with slim and hungry ants
running upwards, and others lazily descending with their bel-
lies 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 live
on the best possible terms with them; and, on the other hand,
the ants, though unsparing of other insects weaker than them-
selves, upon which they frequently prey, treat the plant-lice
with the utmost gentleness, 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,

208 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

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 ichneu-
mon flies that are for ever hovering near to deposit their eggs
in the bodies of the lice.

Plant-lice differ very much in form, color, clothing, and in the
length of the honey-tubes. Some have these tubes quite long,
as the rose-louse, Aphis Rosce, which is green, and has a little
conical projection or stylet, as it is called, at the extremity of
the body, between the two honey-tubes. The cabbage-louse,
Aphis Brassiccc, 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 ( Cari/a porcina), in
all stages of growth, from the first to the middle of July.
It is the Aphis* Carija 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 w^ith 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 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.

* It probably belongs to the genus Lachnus of Illiger, or Cinara of Curtis.

HEMIPTERA. 209

This species cannot be identical with the willow-louse, Aphis
Salicis of Linnaeus, which has a spotted body ; and therefore
I propose to call it A])his 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
exhausting 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 circumstance as well as from their peculiar situation, that
they never acquire wings. Whether these are of the same
species as the Aphis radicum of Europe, I cannot ascertain,
as no sufficient description 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 combined opera-
tions of the lice and the ants, the plants wither and prematurely
perish. When these subterranean lice are disturbed, the at-
tendant ants are thrown into the greatest confusion 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 contrive to live upon the frag-
ments 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 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 lice, 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

* See Kirby and Spence's Introduction to Entomology, Vol. II. pp. 91, 92.
27

S10 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

chief nutriment both of the ants and their young, which is
sufficient to account for their solicitude and care for their valu-
able herds.

The peach-tree suffers very much from the attacks of plant-
lice, which live under the leaves, causing them by their punc-
tures to become thickened, to curl or form hollows beneath,
and corresponding crispy and reddish swellings above, and
finally to perish and drop off prematurely. Whether our
insect is the same as the European Aphis of the peach-tree
{Aphis^ Persicce of Sulzer) I cannot determine, for the want of
a proper description of the latter.

The injuries occasioned by plant-lice are much greater than
would at first be expected from the small size and extreme
weakness 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 inter-
rupted, 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 difl'erently affected by these insects. Some wither and
cease to grow, their leaves and stems put on a sickly appear-
ance, and soon die from exhaustion. Others, though not
killed, are greatly impeded in their growth, and their tender
parts, which are attacked, become stunted, curled, or warped.
The punctures of these lice seem to poison some plants, and
affect others in a most singular manner, producing warts or
swellings, which are sometimes soHd 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 of this kind, as big
as a pigeon's cg^^ growing upon leaves, to which they were
attached by a slender neck, and containing thousands of small
lice in their interior. Naturalists call these tumors galls, be-
cause 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

HEMIPTERA. 211

or produce them generally differ from the others, in having
shorter antennae, being without honey-tubes, and in frequently
being clothed with a kind of white down, which, however,
disappears when the insects become winged.

These downy plant-lice are now placed in the genus Erio-
soma, which means woolly body, and the most destructive
species belonging to it was first described, under the name of
Aphis lanigera, by Mr. Hausmann,* in the year 1801, as infest-
ing 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.
Rennie,:J: is found in the orchards about Harfleur, in Normandy,
and is very destructive to the apple-trees in the department of
Calvados. There is now good reason to believe that the mis-
called American blight is not indigenous 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 I 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 Natural-
ist," from which, and from Hausmann's description, the follow-
ing 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 are deposited in the crotches of the branches and in the
chinks of the bark at or near the surface of the ground, es-
pecially if there are suckers springing from the same place.
The young, when first hatched, are covered with a very short

* lUiger's Magazin, Yol. I. p. 440. t Salisbury's Hints on Orchards, p. 39.

% Insect Miscellanies, p. 180.

§ New England Farmer, Vol. YII. p. 169 ; Yol. IX. p. 178.

212 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

and fine down, and appear 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 dis-
tinct, 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
testimony 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 desti-
tute 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 throughout an extensive orchard. The nu-
merous punctures of these lice produce on the tender shoots a
cellular appearance, and wherever a colony of them is estab-
lished, 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 lice 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 luxuri-
ance, that many trees seemed, at a short distance, as if they
had been whitewashed.

Mr. Knapp thinks that remedies can prove efficacious in
removing this evil only upon a small scale, and that when the
injury has existed for some time, and extended its influence
over the parts of a large tree, it will take its course, and the

HEMIPTERA.

213

tree will die. rfc 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 consisting of three ounces of melted
resin mixed with the same quantity 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 application 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 uncovered. 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 ex-
tremities 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 Hce
in this State, inhabiting various forest and ornamental trees,
some of which may also have been introduced from abroad.
The descriptions 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.

214 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

Solutions of soap, or a mixture of soapsuds and tobacco-
water, used warm and applied with a watering-pot or with a
garden engine, 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 subse-
quently be drenched thoroughly with pure water. Professor
Lindley recommends syringing plants, as often as necessary
to remove the lice, with a solution of half an ounce of strong
carbonate of ammonia in one quart of water, which has the
merit of being clean as well as effectual. Lice on the extremi-
ties of branches may be killed by bending over the branches
and holding them for several minutes in warm and strong
soapsuds, or in a solution of whale-oil soap. Against the
depredations of the plant-lice that sometimes infest potato-
fields, dusting the plants with lime has been found a good
remedy. 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 desti'oy subterranean lice on the
roots of plants, I have found that watering with salt water
was useful, if the plants were hardy ; but tender herbaceous
plants cannot be treated in this way, but may sometimes be
revived, when suffering from these hidden foes, by free and
frequent watering with soapsuds.

Plant-lice would undoubtedly be much more abundant and
destructive, if they were not kept in check by certain redoubt-
able 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 larvae of the hemispherical
beetles familiarly known by the name of lady-birds, and scien-
tifically by that of Coccinella. These little beetles are gener-
ally 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

IIEMIPTERA. 215

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 fore part 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. In July, 1848, a friend sent
to me a whole brood of lady-bird grubs, which, being found
upon potato-vines, were thought by some of his neighbors to
be the cause of the rot. In a few weeks, the grubs were trans-
formed to beetles, about as big as half a pea, and having nine
black dots on their dull orange-colored wing-shells. Hence
they derive their name of Coccinella novemnotata, the nine-
dotted Coccinella. It need hardly be added that these little
insects were wholly innocent of all offence to the plants, upon
which, when infested with the common potato plant-lice, they
may always be found. It is amusing, however, that both of
these kinds of insects should have been charged with the same
fault, one having no more to do with producing the disease
than the other.

There are some lady-birds, of a very small size, and 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 lion's whelp, and they well merit such a name, for
their young, in proportion to their size, are as sanguinary and
ferocious as the most savage beasts of prey. I have often
seen one of these little tufted animals preying upon plant-lice,
catching and devouring, with the greatest ease, lice nearly as
large as its own body, one after another, in rapid succession,
without apparently satiating its hunger or diminishing its
activity.

The second kind of plant-lice destroyers are the young of
the golden-eyed lace-winged fly, Chrijsopa perla. This fly is
of a pale green color, and has four wings resembling delicate

216 INSECTS INnJRIOUS TO VEGETATION.

lace, and eyes of the brilliancy of polished gold, as its generi-
cal name implies ; but, notwithstanding its delicacy and beauty,
it is extremely disgusting from the offensive odor that it ex-
hales. It suspends its eggs, by threads, in clusters beneath
the leaves where plant-lice abound. The young, or larva, is a
rather long and slender grub, provided with a pair of large
curved and sharp teeth (jaius), moving laterally, and each per-
forated with a hole through which it sucks the juices of its
victims. The havoc it makes is astonishing; for one minute
is all the time 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-lice are dis-
covered. 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 pointed 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 witliout much grop-
ing about, in consequence of the provident care of the parent
flies, which leave their eggs in the very midst of the sluggish
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 several larvsB of Coccinella or Syi'phi.

HEMIPTERA. 217

3. Bark-lice. CoccidcB.
The celebrated scarlet in grain, which has been employed
in Asia and the South of Europe, from the earliest ages, as a
coloring material, was known to the Romans by the name of
Coccus, derived from a similar Greek word, and was, for a
long time, supposed 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,
Linnreus retained them all under the same name. Hence in
the genus Coccus are included not only the Thola of the Phoe-
nicians 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 kidney-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 enormous, compared with the previous condition of
the insect; but the males pass through a complete transforma-
tion before arriving at the perfect or winged state. In both
sexes we find threadlike or tapering antennae, longer than the
head, but much shorter than those of plant-lice, and feet con-
sisting of only one joint, terminated by a single claw. The
mature 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 ex
tremity of the body, very short in some females, usually quite
28

218 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

long in the males, which moreover are provided with a stylet
at the tip of the abdomen, which is recurved beneath the body.
The following account* contains a summary of nearly aR
that is known respecting the history and habits of these in-
sects. 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 cruslied, 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, numer-
ous 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 progeny. 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 disperse them-
selves 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 greenhouses. 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 sap that nourishes them. Reaumur
observed the ground quite moist under peach-trees infested
with bark-lice, 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 called the larva state.
When this is completed, the insects will be found to be of

* It was drawn up by me in the year 1828, and published in the seventh
volume of the "New England Farmer," pp. 186, 187.

HEMIPTERA. 219

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 life-
less scales the transformation of the insect is conducted; with
this remarkable 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 before had ; the smaller ones, on the contrary, con-
tinue 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, an-
tennee, feet, &:c., being discoverable on raising the shells. If
we follow the progress of these small lice, which are to produce
the males, we shall see, in process of time, a pair of threads
and the tips of the wings protruding beneath the shell 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 immovable,
and never change their place after they have once become
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 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.

220 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

Sometimes the insect's body is not large enough to cover all
her eggs, in which case she beds them in a considerable quan-
tity 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 tw^o are pro-
duced 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 vei-y much subject to the attacks of a small species
of bark-louse. The limbs and smooth parts of the trunks are
sometimes 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 decreasing 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 Reau-
mur* in 1738, who found it on the elm in France, and Geoffroy
named the insect Coccus arborum linearis, while Gmelin called
it concliiformis. This, or one much like it, is very abundant
upon apple-trees in England, as we learn from Dr. Shawf and
IVIr. Kirby ; J 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 somewhat 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 nearly
sohtary. It is true that on some of our indigenous forest-trees
bark-lice of nearly the same form and appearance have been

* Memoires, Vol. IV. p. 69, plate 5, figs. 5, G, 7.
t General Zoology, Vol. VI., Part I. p. 196.
X Introduction to Entomology, Vol. I. p. 201.
§ Insect Transformations, p. 92.

HEMIPTERA. 221

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 published among
the early papers of the Massachusetts Agricultural Society.*
These insects have now become extremely common, and in-
fest 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 stationary, and
early in June throw out a quantity of bluish white down, soon
after w^hich 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, especially
those of the genera Partis and Reg^ilus, 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 application 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 whitewash. This is to be put upon the trunks and limbs

« See papers for 1796, p. 32.

222 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

of the trees with a brush, and as high as practicable, so as to
cover the whole surface, 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 insects are young and tender. These in-
sects 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 Dalman in the " Transactions of the Royal
Academy of Sciences of Stockholm," * for the year 1825, under
the name of Coccus cryptogamus. 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 clustered together in great numbers, are of a white color
and membranous 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 passing down the middle. The

* Kongl. Vetenskaps Academ. Nya Handlingar.

IIEMIPTERA. 223

minute oval dark-colored scales on one of the ends of these
white cases are the skins of the lice while they were in the
young or larva state, and the white shells are probably formed
in the same way aB the down which exudes from the bodies of
other bark-lice, but which in these assumes a regular shape,
varying 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 particu-
lars as tend to illusti-ate 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,
A\Tinkled 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 un-
dergoes no change, and never emerges from her habitation.
The male becomes a chrysalis or pupa, and about the middle
of July completes its transformations, makes its escape from
its case, which it leaves at the hinder extremity, and the wings
with which it is provided are reversed 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
deposits 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 pro-
duced, and the included insects pass from the larva to the

224

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION.

pupa state. The means for destroying these insects are the
same as those recommended for the extermination of the pre-
vious species.

Many years ago, when on a visit from home, I observed on
a fine native grape-vine, that was trained against the side of a
house, great numbers of reddish brown bark-lice, 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 occur till the summer of 1839, when I was led
to the discovery of a few of these lice on my Isabella grape-
vines, by seeing the ants ascending and descending the stems.
Upon careful search I discovered 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 obser-
vations were arrested by a fire which consumed the house and
the vines that were trained to it.

LEPIDOPTERA. 225

LEPIDOPTERA.

Caterpillars. — Butterflies. Skippers. — Haavk-Moths. ^gerians or
Boring-Caterpillars. Glaucopidians. — Moths. — Spinners. Lithosi-
ans. — Tiger-Moths. Ermine-Moths. Tussock-Moths. — Lackey-Moths.
Lappet-Moths. — Saturnians. — Ceratocampians. — Carpenter-Moths. —

PSYCHIANS. NoTODONTIANS. OwL-MOTHS. CuT-WoRMS. — GEOMETERS, OR

Span-Worms, and Canker -Worms. — Delta-Moths. — Leap-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
vegetation. Caterpillars are the young of butterflies and of
moths ; and of these, five hundred species, which are natives
of Massachusetts, are already known to me, and probably there
are at least as many more kinds to be discovered within the
limits of this Commonwealth. 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 caterpillars; if one half of this num-
ber, when arrived at maturity, are females, they will give forty-
five millions of caterpillars in the seco