The Flea Negro Bug. Thyreccoris pulicarius, Germar.

Order Hemiptera, Family Pentatomida.

Fig. 9. FLEA NEGRO BUG (Thyreocoris pulicaria,
Germar). After Riley.

This species is sometimes quite injurious to the strawberry, puncturing the stem with its beak and sucking the sap, thus causing the blossom or fruit to wilt. Wherever it occurs, the nauseous flavor which it imparts to every berry it touches will soon make its presence manifest.

It is about .12 of an inch long, by three-fourths that width; the outline of the head and thorax together triangular; that of the abdomen semi-oval and broadly rounded behind; the scutellum is very large, nearly covering the abdomen. The color is glossy black above and beneath; the edges of the wing covers white; the antennæ, tibiæ, and tarsi brown; the whole surface finely punctured.

Chrysalis Snails. Pupilla fallax, Say.

Although these little mollusks are, of course, not properly included in an entomological article, it may be worth while to notice the injury occasionally done by them to the strawberry.

The only mention of this species in this connection, which I have seen, is in Vol. II. of the American Naturalist, page 666: A gentleman at New Harmony, Indiana, who found his strawberry plants dying rapidly, on searching for the cause, discovered these mollusks at work upon the stems and crowns of the plants, rasping off the outer coating, and sucking their juices in such a manner as to cause them to decay. He found as many as forty upon one plant, and thinks that they have killed several thousands upon the different beds. Though more abundant on the strawberry, he has found them on a variety of plants. Since attention has been called to the depredations of these minute mollusks, they have been found at work upon the strawberry plants in all the gardens examined.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE CROWN.

The Strawberry Crown Miner. Anarsia lineatella, Zeller.
Order Lepidoptera, Family Tineida.

Under the above name I have to report the occurrence in Illinois of an insect which, if it has hitherto occurred in this region, has wholly escaped attention until last fall, but which has shown by its performances elsewhere

both the ability and the disposition to do serious mischief in the strawberry field. It was detected last September, at Normal, by the roadside, in plants which had escaped from cultivation. About seventy-five per cent. of the crowns of these plants were infested by a small, reddish caterpillar, which had eaten out the interior of the crown, inflicting an injury similar to that done by the crown-borer in Southern Illinois, and certainly equally serious. These caterpillars were about two-fifths of an inch (7 to 8 mm.) in length, reddish pink on the back, fading into dull yellow on the second and third segments. The head is yellow, with the sutures deeply indented. The

Fig. 10. STRAWBERRY CROWN MINER (Anarsia lineatella, Zeller): Larva, magnified nine diameters. From strawberry crown. H. Garman.

anterior part of the segment behind the head is smooth and horny, and of a pale, brownish yellow color. On each segment are a few shining reddish dots, or slightly elevated tubercles, from each of which arises a very fine, short yellowish hair. These dots are arranged in imperfect rows, a single one across the third, fourth and last segments, and a more or less perfect double row on the others. The sides and under surface are of a dull whitish color, becoming faintly reddish on the hinder segments. A row of setigerous tubercles, like those on the back, crosses each ventral segment. The feet and false legs are yellowish white, the former tipped with dark brown.

These caterpillars were quite active, creeping rapidly about when their burrows were opened, and often letting themselves drop to the ground by a thread. Mr. Wm. Saunders, of Ontario, Canada, is to be credited with the first published mention of their injuries to the strawberry, and I can not do better than to quote from his account of it, in the annual report of the Entomological Society of the Province of Ontario for the year 1872:

"This is a very troublesome insect where it occurs plentifully, and takes a liking to the strawberry; but happily this is not often the case. We have never seen it affecting this fruit anywhere except on the grounds of Mr. Luke Bishop, of St. Thomas, Ont., who first called our attention to it about the middle of May, 1869, when he brought us a few specimens. During 1868 and 1869 they played sad havoc with his plants, destroying a large proportion of them.

"On the eighth of June we visited the grounds of Mr. Bishop, and found his strawberry beds badly infested-indeed almost destroyed-by this pest, along with a leaf-roller, to be presently described. The borer eats irregular channels through the crown, sometimes excavating large chambers, at other times merely girdling it in various directions, here and there eating its way

to the surface. Whether these various chambers and channels are due to the presence of more worms than one in a single root we were unable to determine with certainty. Most of the larvæ found at this date had eaten their way to the upper part of the crown of the plant, just under the surface, and were found about the center with a hole eaten through the surface. From the fact that a large number of roots were examined, and although almost every one was more or less injured, but very few larvæ were to be found, we inferred that the probabilities were that the larvæ, when mature, usually leave the root, and undergo the change to chrysalis, either under the surface of the ground, or amongst rubbish at the surface. One chrysalis only was found, and that was in the cavity of a root. As soon as Mr. Bishop had discovered the destructive character of this pest, he, with commendable caution, refused to sell any more plants until the insect was subdued, for fear of spreading the evil. He is of opinion that the insect came to him from some part of the United States, with some plants of the Hooker strawberry, as it was in a pitch of these, so obtained, that he first noticed the insect working.

"Specimens of the larvæ gotten late in the season, wintered over, and were examined on the 12th of January following, when they did not appear so plump in body as those examined in July. They appear to spend most of the winter in a torpid state within the silken cases before mentioned. Several were found thus sheltered at this time, and one, whose original abode had been disturbed in the fall, had prepared for itself a similar casing within the fold of a strawberry leaf. In the last instance, the larva seemed quite active, moving itself briskly about whenever touched. The chrysalis of this insect is very small, and of the usual dark reddish brown color. That one which was found on the 8th of June, produced the moth on the 12th of July." The moth bred from the chrysalis above mentioned was submitted by Mr. Saunders to Prof. Riley, and by him determined to be Anarsia lineatella, Zeller. Prof. Riley also says that he has bred the same moth from larvæ boring in peach twigs. The worm has likewise been found by Prof. Com

Fig. 11. PEACH TWIG BORER. Larva and perfect insect, natural size, and magnified. Also a bored twig. After Glover.

stock in the fruit of the peach in July and August. These peach and strawberry insects are, however, not certainly the same, as not only their habits but their life histories seem inconsistent as far as known. But, without as

suming to pass upon this question now, I have accomplished my present purpose by giving timely warning of the appearance in the Mississippi valley of what may, unless it is closely watched, prove a serious enemy of the favorite fruit of America.

Until the life history of this species is complete, I can only say that the strawberry fields should be inspected in fall and spring for evidence of the presence of this caterpillar; and if it is found, it can be exterminated, as far as we know, only by destroying the plants. It will, of course, be most likely to occur in old and neglected fields, or, as at Normal, in runaway plants in fence corners and by roadsides. I hardly need say that these neglected plants, living from year to year without "rotation," are the best possible breeding places for strawberry pests, and may easily become centers of infection for a whole neighborhood.

Otiorhynchus sulcatus, Schoen.

Order Coleoptera, Family Otiorhynchidæ.

This is a rough, brownish black snout beetle, about four-tenths of an inch long, of whose injuries to the strawberry I only know the fact reported by Prof. Riley in his third report, that it infests the crowns of these plants; doubtless in the larval stage. This species may be distinguished from the other members of its genus by the fact that the femora are provided with a very small tooth, while the rostrum is sulcate, with a bifid carina at the tip; and the elytra are also longitudinally grooved. The thorax is sub-cylindrical, with the sides moderately rounded, widest in front of the middle, and the surface rather closely set with rounded tubercles. Each interval of the elytra bears a row of shining, rounded tubercles, rather closely placed, and small patches of short yellowish hair, irregularly distributed.

The Strawberry Crown-borer. Tyloderma fragaria, Riley.
Order Coleoptera, Family Curculionidae.

Fig. 12. STRAWBERRY CROWN-BORER (Tyloderma fragariæ, Riley): a. Larva; b. Outline side view; c. Back view of beetle. After Riley.

Although it has hitherto done but little harm north of the latitude of Central Illinois, this species certainly occurs as far northward as Minnesota, and

there is no sufficient security that it may not become injurious wherever introduced.

It has been known as one of the worst enemies of the strawberry for more than fifteen years, but its life history has only been very lately completed. The first published notice of its injuries of which I am aware occurs in Prof. Riley's third report as State Entomologist of Missouri, published in 1871. "This insect," he says, "has done considerable damage to the strawberry crop in the southern portion of Illinois, especially along the line of the Illinois Central Railroad; and I have seen evidence of its work in St. Louis county, Missouri. At the meeting of the Southern Illinois Fruit-Growers'

Association. held at South Pass, in November, 1867, several complaints were made by parties from Anna and Makanda, of a white worm which worked in the roots of their strawberries, and in 1868 the greater portion of the plants of a ten-acre field at Anna, belonging to Mr. Parker Earle, was destroyed by it."

This insect, in the form in which it does its injury, is the grub or larva of one of the snout beetles, belonging, in fact, to the same family as the peach curculio. It was first described by Prof. Riley, in the report already cited, and his description of the beetle is herewith given. The larva and pupa are described from fresh material obtained last fall from strawberry fields in Southern Illinois.

"Tyloderma fragariæ.-Imago.-Color deep chestnut-brown, sub-polished, the elytra somewhat lighter. Head and rostrum dark, finely and densely punctate and with short, coarse, fulvous hairs, longest at tip of rostrum; antennæ rather lighter towards base, ten-jointed, the scape much thickened at apex, joint 2 longest and robust, 3 moderately long, 4-7 short, 8-10 connate and forming a stout club. Thorax dark, cylindrical, slightly swollen across the middle and uniformly covered with large thimble-like punctures, and with a few short, coarse fulvous hairs, usually arranged in three more or less distinct longitudinal lines; pectoral groove ending between front legs. Abdomen with small, remote punctures and hairs, which are denser towards apex. Legs of equal stoutness, and with shallow, dilated