an inch. Its fore wings are red, darker on the outer half, and with a large triangular white spot near the middle of the front edge; the outer edge of the spot is hollowed out. The outer edge of the wing is pale, especially in the middle, and about the same color as the head and thorax; the hind wings and abdomen are of a whitish buff, underneath they are whitish.

Various other species have also been briefly referred to as enemies of this plant, but it does not seem worth while to multiply descriptions of them, as the same principles must guide us in the destruction of all of them. Fire or insect poisons, either arsenical or vegetable, like hellebore water, must be used, according to the season when the worms or pupae occur upon the leaves.

The Grape-vine Colaspis. Colaspis flavida, Say.

Order Coleoptera, Family Chrysomelida.

Fig. 5, GRAPEVINE COLASPIS (Colaspis flarida, Say): Enlarged, and natural size.

Prof. Riley states in his third report as State Entomologist of Missouri, that this beetle greedily devours the leaves of the strawberry, commencing to appear in June and continuing until autumn, although leaving the strawberry vines for other food, to a great extent, late in July and in August. The following is Say's description of the beetle:

"Pale yellowish; elytra striate, with a double series of punctures. Body densely punctured; punctures rather large and profound, head with two slightly elevated tubercles between the antennæ; thorax tinged with rufous; elytra with elevated lines, of which the inner one curves round at base and descends a short distance to unite with the sutural line; interstitial spaces, excepting the subsutural one and the two exterior ones, with double series of rather large profound punctures; exterior edge blackish brown; venter dusky. Length nearly one-fifth of an inch. Var. a. Interstitial spaces of the elytra black; beneath, excepting the feet, black."

Prof. Riley's inference in the article cited, that this beetle is the adult of the common root-worm of the strawberry, can not yet be regarded as established as will be explained more fully under Paria aterrima, when treating of species injurious to the root.

The beetle (Colaspis) could, of course, be easily poisoned in the strawberry field; but as it feeds on the leaves of the grape as well, and possibly on some other plants, such treatment might not be a complete remedy.

Until the larva of this beetle is more certainly known, and its life history has been thoroughly cleared up, we can not recommend more effective

measures.

The Root-worm Beetle. Paria aterrima, Oliv.

Order Coleoptera, Family Chrysomelida.

This beetle, probably the imago or adult of the root-worm, will be fully described and discussed under the latter name, and I need only mention here the fact that it appears on the vines in both spring and summer (August), and that it may be poisoned at the latter period without trouble, as has been several times proven by experiment.

Locusts. Caloptenus spretus, Thos., Acridium americanum, Drury, etc.

Order Orthoptera, Family Acrididæ.

Prof. Riley mentions strawberry leaves as among the favorite food plants of the Rocky Mountain locust (Seventh Report, p. 159), and we have found the young of the second species above mentioned devouring the strawberry leaves in Southern Illinois. Mr. F. S. Earle, of Cobden, Ill., writes in July: "A few days ago I noticed some flocks' of young grasshoppers [probably of this species] that were literally eating up some strawberry plants. They were quite small, apparently just hatched, and there were not enough of them to do any serious harm, but they made a clean sweep as far as they went." The Strawberry Plant-louse. Siphonophora fragaria, Koch. Order Hemiptera, Family Aphididae.

Fig. 6. STRAWBERRY PLANT-LOUSE (Siphonophora fragaria, Koch): Root form (?) from crown. H. Garman.

This species occurs in numbers large enough to attract attention and occasionally to do decided injury, in Kansas and Illinois, * and probably elsewhere also. Like all the plant-lice, it is far more dangerous than its usual insignificance would lead one to suppose. The reproductive rate of these insects is

The form figured above, from Southern Illinois, has the aspect of an Aphis, and it is possible that the Illinois species is not Siphonophora fragaria, as was supposed by Dr. Thomas. Until the aerial forms can be seen, however, I prefer to leave the matter as above.

so enormous that when conditions happen especially to favor their increase, they may suddenly swarm in countless myriads, and utterly destroy the plants which they infest.

In spring and early summer this species occurs on the under sides of the leaves and on the stalks of the growing fruit, causing the leaves to wither, and diminishing the size of the berry. In autumn the lice move to the crown, where they may be found between the bases of the roots. In No

vember, the wingless females here lay their eggs, which survive the winter to hatch in the spring.

The winged form probably appears at irregular intervals throughout the summer, as is usually the case with the plant-lice, and this is consequently the time when the species spreads from field to field. The following descriptions are from Buckton's "British Aphides," vol. I, page 125:—

"Apterous viviparous female.—Size of body .09 x .04 inch, length of antennæ 1 inch., of cornicles .025 inch. Whole body shining green, except the cornicles, which are tipped with black, and straight. Eyes red. Antennæ long and dark olive. Legs pale, with dark femora and tibia joints. Tail yellow. "Pupa.-Reddish green, with a smoky line down the dorsum. ring cases gray. The last with blackish tips.

Thorax and

inch, size of body .09 x .04, Head, thoracic lobes, anAll the rest of the body

"Winged viviparous female.-Expanse of wings.35 length of antennæ .1 inch, of cornicles .025 inch. tennæ, nectaries, tibiæ, and femoral points black. green. Abdomen with four round black spots on each side of the carina, and several obscure marks down the dorsum. Eyes red. Cubitus and wing insertions bright yellow, other veins black. Stigma grayish. Tail yellow. Wholly green on the under side. Some specimens are of a redder shade than the rest "

At the time when this insect probably does its principal injuries, namely: previous to the ripening of the fruit, the usual standard remedies for the injuries of plant-lice are impracticable, since the poisonous powders and fluids which are used for the destruction of these insects would render the berries inedible. The proper season to attack this pest by local applications is doubtless in autumn, when the lice are congregated upon the crown. At this time, if desirable, they might easily be exterminated by the thorough application of the kerosene emulsion to the plants. This would have the advantage of destroying both the living insects and the eggs. It is at this time, also, that the fields should be plowed up, if it proves to be necessary to resort to

this treatment to arrest the multiplication of the insects. As the eggs remain during the winter upon the crowns of the plants, not hatching until spring, care should of course be taken in forming new plantations, that the young plants are obtained from fields not infested by lice, or else that these and their eggs are destroyed upon the plants before they are set. Although I have not yet had any opportunity to experiment upon this matter, I have little doubt that dipping the plants in the kerosene emulsion or in a simple mechanical mixture of kerosene and water, about three parts to one hundred, would be efficient for this purpose, and secure the new field against infection from the old.

Leaf-Hoppers?

Order Hemiptera, Family Tettigonidæ.

I find in the Farmer and Fruit-Grower for June 16, 1880, an item quoted from the "Examiner and Chronicle," which probably relates to some one of the above family, known by the name of leaf-hoppers:

"In a field which produced some fine fruit last June, as the plants were set the previous August, there appeared about the time the fruit was gathered a small insect resembling the grape-thrips, only one-third its size, or less than one-sixteenth of an inch long. They are perfectly white, and keep on the under side of the leaves that are nearest the ground. The leaves soon turn black and dry up, and the ground under the plant gets foul, as if soot had been thrown there. As fast as the dead leaves were removed, they would collect on the lowest leaves of the plant as before, and soon cause their decay. So numerous were they that they would fill your eyes and nostrils full when you were cleaning off the plants. I gave them a heavy dose of airslacked lime, but it did not seem to destroy any of them, and the plants were nearly ruined. Before the season was over I could see some of them on the other plats on my ground, and on some of my neighbors' a mile away, and, if they have not been destroyed by the frost, they may do as much damage this season."

The False Chinch-bug. Nysius destructor, Riley.

Fig. 8. FALSE CHINCH BUG (Nysius destructor, Riley): a. Leaf of potato showing injury; b. Pupa; c. Adult. After Riley.

This little bug is so similar in size, form and general appearance to the notorious chinch-bug, that it is very frequently mistaken for the latter by those not accustomed to observe insects closely. It often occurs in great numbers in strawberry fields, especially in autumn, when purslane and other spreading weeds have been allowed to grow freely. It is not usually guilty of any very serious injury to the plants, and yet is worthy of mention. The following item in the Western Rural for 1870, by a fruit grower of Centralia, Illinois, probably refers to this insect:

"A new insect, to us here, has appeared on our strawberries for the first time the past season, damaging the crop very much. It resembles somewhat the chinch-bug, so destructive to our wheat and corn, and judging from the peculiar odor they emit on being mashed, should think them very nearly related. Some claim that they are of a different species altogether. Whether this be so or not, those interested in the cultivation of the strawberry are anxiously looking forward to another season to see if they are to continue their depredations."

From the genuine chinch-bug it may be very readily distinguished by the fact that it is of a rather uniform pale and tarnished brown color, whereas the chinch-bug has a decidedly black head and thorax, with two conspicuous black spots on the front wings, separated by an hour-glass-shaped white blotch. The genuine chinch-bug does not attack the strawberry. Prof. Riley's description and figure of Nysius destructor are given herewith, somewhat condensed :

"General color grayish brown. Head more or less distinctly pubescent; the surface usually brown, with a distinct black, longitudinal line each side, broadening on the crown, but generally leaving the orbit of the eyes pale; these lines sometimes more diffuse and occupying the whole surface, except a median brown spot at base of crown, and a narrow, paler spot on the clypeus; ocelli piceous; rostrum piceous, paler at base and reaching to hind coxæ; antennæ either pale yellowish brown or darker brown, the torulus and first joint darkest. Thorax with the pronotum narrowing anteriorly, the sides slightly sinuate, irregularly and more coarsely punctate than the head, more or less pubescent, dingy yellow or brown, with a transverse black band near the anterior edge; also five more or less distinct longitudinal dark lines, the central one most persistent and leading on the posterior margin to a pale, shiny, impunctate spot; scutellum usually dark, coarsely punctate. Legs pale yellow, inclining more or less to brown; coxa dark at base, pale at tip; trochanters pale; front and middle femora spotted more or less confluently on the outside with brown; tibiæ ringed with brown at base. Hemelytra either colorless, transparent and prismatic, or distinctly tinged with dingy yellow; shallowly punctate and very finely pubescent. Venter piceous, minutely and regularly covered with gray pubescence; female dingy yellow, except at base; female paler than male, and generally larger. Average length .13 inch. Described from numerous specimens."