C^sm*z*f 4^ '<*,://./?&. TREATISE ON SOME OF THE INSECTS OF NEW E N G L A N D , WHICH ARE INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. BY THADDEUS WILLIAM HARRIS, M. D. CAMBRIDGE: PUBLISHED BY JOHN OWEN. 1842. CAMBRIDGE : PRINTED AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. ! ^ 1 ADVERTISEMENT. TTpE following work does not differ essentially from the Report, on the same subject, submitted to the Legislature of Massachusetts in the year 1841; and this impression has been printed at the expense of the Author for more general circulation, and to meet the wishes of some of his friends. CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION. The word Insect defined, — Brain and Nerves, — Air-pipes and Breathingholes,— Heart and Blood, 4.— Insects are produced from Eggs, — Metamorphoses, — Examples of Complete Transformation, 5.—Partial Transformation, 6.— Larva or Infant State, Pupa or Intermediate State, Adultf or Winged State, 7.— Head, Eyes, Antennse, and Mouth, 8. — Thorax or Chest, Wings, and Legs, — Abdomen or Hind-body, 9. — Piercer, and Sting, — Number of Insects compared with Plants,— Classification, Orders, Coleoptera, 10. — Orthoptera, Hemiptera, 11. — Neuroptera, Lepidoptera, 12. — Hymenoptera, 13. — Diptera, 14. — Other Orders and Groups, 17. — Remarks on Scientific Names, 19. COLEOPTERA, Beetles,—Scarabseians, 21. — Ground-Beetles, Tree-Beetles, 22. — Cockchafers or May-Beetles, 23. — Flower-Beetles, 35. — Stag-Beetles, 38.— Buprestians, or Saw-horned Borers, 40. — Spring-Beetles, 46. — TimberBeetles, 51. — Weevils, 53. — Cylindrical Bark-Beetles, 71. — CapricornBeetles, or Long-horned Borers, 77. — Leaf-Beetles, 94. —- Qriocerians? 95. — Leaf-mining Beetles, 97. — Tortoise-Beetles, 98. — Chrysomelians, 99. — Cantharides, 109. ORTHOPTERA. Structure and Transformations, 114. — Earwigs, 116. — Cockroaches, 118. — Mantes, or Soothsayers, 118. — Walking-leaves, Spectres, — Crickets, 119. — Mole-Cricket, 120.—Field-Crickets, 121. —Climbing-Cricket, 123. — Cucumber Skippers, 125. — Grasshoppers, 125. — Awl-Bearer, or Wingless Cricket, 126. — Katy-did, 127. — Locusts, or Flying Grasshoppers, 132. HEMIPTERA. Bugs, 156.— Squash-Bug, 158. — Plant-Bugs, 160. — Harvest-Flies, 164 — Cicadas, 165. — Tree-Hoppers, 177. — Leaf-Hoppers, 182, — Vine-Hopper, 183. — Bean-Hopper, 185.—-Aphidians, 186.— Thrips, Plant-Lice, 187. — American Blight, 193. — Enemies of Plant-Lice, 196. — Bark-Lice, 198. 1 2 CONTENTS, LEPIDOPTERA. Caterpillars, 206. —Butterflies, 209.—Skippers, 222.—Hawk-Moths, 225.— iEgerians, or Boring Caterpillars, 230.—Glaucopidians, 236. — Moths, 237. — Spinners, 239. — Lithosians, 240. — Tiger-Moths, and Ermine-Moths, 242.—Tussock-Moths, 258.—Lackey-Moths, 265. —Lappet-Moths,272. — Saturnians, 276. — Ceratocampians, 287. — Carpenter-Moths, 295.— Psychians, 297. — Notodontians, 301. — Owl-Moths, 315. — SpindleWorms, 318.— Cut-Worms, 321.—Geometers or Span-Worms, 330.— Canker-Worms, 332. —Delta-Moths, 343. — Leaf-Rollers, 346. — BudMothg, 348. —Fruit-Moths, 351. — Tinea?, 355. — Bee-Moths, 357.— Clothes-Moths, 360. — Grain-Moths, 363. — Feather-winged Moths, 368. HYMENOPTERA. Stingers and Piercers, 369. — Habits of some of the Hymenopterous Insects/370. — Saw-Flies, 371. — False Caterpillars and Slugs, 373. — Elm Saw-Fly, 374. —Fir Saw-Fly, 375. — Vine Saw-Fly, 378. — Rose-bush Slug, 380.—Pear-tree Sing, 382. — Horn-tailed Wood-Wasps, 386.— Four-winged Gall-Flies, 395. DIPTERA. Gnats and Flies, 401. — Maggots, and their Transformations, 402. — Clubfooted Gnat, 404. — Snow-Gnat, 404. — Black Fly, Midges, 405. — HorseFlies, 405.—Bee-Flies, 406. — Asilians, 407.—Soldier-Flies, 408.— Syrphians, 409. — Conopians, 410. — Parasitical Flies, Viviparous FleshFlies, 411.—Piercing Stable-Flies, Meat-Flies, and House-Flies, 412. — Flower-Flies, 414. — Two-winged Gall-Flies, and Fruit-Flies, 416.— Oscinians, 417. —Bot-Flies, 418.— Bird-Flies, and Spider-Flies, 420.— Flea, 421. — Gall-Gnats, 421. — Hessian Fly, 422. — Barley-Fly, 433. — Wheat-Fly, 437. —Wheat-Thrips, 444. — Wheat-Worm, Grain-Worm, or Wheat-Caterpillar, 445. INDEX, 449. C ORRECTIONS, x >ag 18, u 28, a 48, a • 92, a 97, u 140, u 240, a 269, a 328, u 392, u line 16, for Phryaneada read Pkryganeadt tl u 27, a pailsful pailfuls a " state 4, " states tt 29, " Democerus " Desmocerus it " their 8, « its a 28, " of " and a 11, il Glaucopsis «' Glaucopis u " not 5, " no u 28, " yellow " black iC 7, omit the before orange. 458, " 21, second column, for 449 read 444. INSECTS I N J U R I O U S TO VEGETATION. INTRODUCTION. JNSECT D E F I N E D . — B R A I N AND N E R V E S . — A I R - P I P E S AND B R E A T H I N G - H O L E S . — H E A R T AND B L O O D . — INSECTS A R E PRODUCED FROM E G G S . — M E T A M O R P H O S E S , OR TRANSFORMATIONS. — E X A M P L E S OF C O M P L E T E T R A N S F O R M A T I O N . — P A R T I A L T R A N S F O R M A T I O N . — L A R V A , OR INFANT S T A T E . — P U P A , OR I N T E R MEDIATE S T A T E . — A D U L T , OR W I N G E D S T A T E . — H E A D , E Y E S , ANTENNAE, AND M O U T H . — T H O R A X OR C H E S T , W I N G S , AND L E G S . — A B D O M E N OR H I N D BODY, P I E R C E R , AND S T I N G — N U M B E R OF INSECTS COMPARED W I T H P L A N T S . — CLASSIFICATION. NEUROPTERA. ORDERS. LEPIDOPTERA. COLEOPTERA. ORTHOPTERA. HYMENOPTERA. DIPTERA. HEMIPTERA. O T H E R ORDERS AND G R O U P S . — R E M A R K S ON S C I E N T I F I C N A M E S . T H E benefits which we derive from insects, though neither 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 entirety 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 depredations of the former, and will tend to remove the repugnance wherewith the latter are commonly regarded. Destructive insects have their appointed tasks, and are limited 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 which are also of the insect race, which, while they fulfil their own part in the economy of 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 ignor- 4 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. ance fall into many mistakes. Moreover, cultivation, in many cases, has destroyed the balance originally existing between the different tribes of insects, nor can this be restored until we make ourselves thoroughly acquainted with their natural history. Information on this subject is to be obtained by observation alone ; it can be communicated and rendered useful to others only by means of correct descriptions of the insects themselves, accompanied by full accounts of their habits in every stage of their ex*istence. The attention should not be confined to the history of individual species or kinds, however hurtful or beneficial these may be ; it should be extended to groups composed of different species, whereby some general ideas of this branch of science may be obtained, and the facts derived from scattered sources may be systematically arranged, so as to aid us in our future researches. For a general knowledge of the natural groups, or families of insects, not only leads to higher and more philosophical views of the whole class, but will often be practically useful when we come, for the first time, to the study of any single species. As this treatise may fall into the hands of persons entirely unacquainted with this branch of natural history, it may be proper to begin with some brief remarks on insects in general, in order to show how they are formed, and wherein they differ essentially from other animals. The word Insect,* 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 number of jointed pieces, more or less movable 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 small whitish threads, 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 * Insectum is an abbreviation of intersection; and from the same source we have the word intersect, to cut or divide. INTRODUCTION. 5 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, which 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 yellowish fluid, does not circulate in proper arteries and veins ; but is driven from the forepart 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. All insects are produced from eggs, and none are spontaneously generated from putrid animal or vegetable matter. A few insects, such as some plant-lice, do not lay their eggs, but retain them within their bodies till the young are ready to escape. Other insects invariably lay their eggs where their young, as soon as they are hatched, will find a plentiful supply of food immediately within their reach. Most insects, in the course of their lives, are subject to very great changes of form, attended by equally remarkable changes in their habits and propensities. These changes, transformations, or metamorphoses, 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 6 * INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION, struggle begins, the chrysalis-skin bursts open, and from the rent issues a butterfly, or a moth, whose small and flabby wings soon extend and harden, and become fitted to bear away the insect in search of the honeyed juice of flowers and other liquids that suffice for its nourishment. The little fish-like animals that swim about in vessels of stagnant water, 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 either float at the surface of the water, for the purpose of breathing through the two tunnel-shaped tubes on the top of their backs, or, if disturbed, suddenly uncurl their bodies, and whirl over and over from one side of the vessel to the other. In the course of a few days these little water-tumblers are ready for another transformation ; the skin splits on the back between the breathingtubes, the head, body, and limbs of a mosquito suddenly burst from the opening, the slender legs rest on the empty skin till the latter fills with water and sinks, when the insect abandons its native element, spreads its tiny wings, and flies away, piping its war-note, and thirsting for the blood which its natural weapons enable it to draw from its unlucky victims. The full-fed maggot, that has rioted in filth till its tender skin seems ready to burst with repletion, when the appointed time arrives, leaves the offensive matters it was ordained to assist in removing, and gets into some convenient hole or crevice ; then its body contracts or shortens, and becomes egg-shaped, while the skin hardens, and turns brown and dry, so that, under this form, the creature appears more like a seed than a living animal; after some time passed in this inactive and equivocal form, during which wonderful changes have taken place within the seed-like shell, one end of the shell is forced off, and from the inside comes forth a buzzing fly, that drops its former filthy habits with its cast-off dress, and now, with a more refined taste, seeks only to lap the solid viands of our tables, or sip the liquid contents of our cups. Caterpillars, grubs, and maggots undergo a complete transformation in corning to maturity : but there are other insects, such as crickets, grass-hoppers, bugs, and plant-lice, which, though differing a good deal in the young and adult states, are not subject to so great a change, their transformations being only partial. For INTRODUCTION. 7 instance, the young grasshopper comes from |he 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 voraciously, grows larger and larger, and hops about without any aid from its short and motionless wings, repeatedly casts off its outgrown skin, appearing each time with still longer wings, and more perfectly formed limbs, till at length it ceases to grow, and, shedding its skin for the last time, it comes forth a perfectly formed and matured grasshopper, with the power of spreading its ample wings, and of using them in flight. Hence there are three periods in the life of an insect, more or less distinctly marked by corresponding changes in the form, powers, and habits. In the first, or period of infancy, an insect is technically called a tarva^ a word signifying a mask, because therein its future form is more or less masked or concealed. This name is not only applied to grubs, caterpillars, and maggots, and to other insects that undergo a complete transformation, but also to young and wingless grasshoppers, and bugs, and indeed to all young insects before the wings begin to appear. In this first period, which is generally much the longest, insects are 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 the pupa state, from a slight resemblance that some of the latter present to an infant trussed in bandages, as was the fashion among the Romans. The pupse from caterpillars, however, are more commonly called chrysalids, because some of them, as the name implies, are gilt or adorned with golden spots; and grubs, after their first transformation, are often named nymphs, for what reason does not appear. At the end of the second period insects again shed their skins, and come forth fully grown, and (with few exceptions) provided with wings. They thus enter 8 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. upon their last or adult state, wherein they no longer increase in size, and during which they provide for a continuation of their kind. This period usually lasts only a short time, for most 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 theN 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 lire also to be seen ; but in most young insects, or larvse, 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. The eyes of adult insects, though apparently two in number, are compound, each consisting of a great number of single eyes closely united together, and incapable of being rolled in their sockets. Such also are the eyes of the larvse, and of the active pupae of those insects that undergo an imperfect transformation. Moreover, many winged insects have one, two, or three little single eyes, placed near each other on the crown of the head, and called ocelli, or eyelets. The eyes of grubs, caterpillars, and of other completely transforming larvse, 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 antennas, corresponding, for the most part, in situation, with the ears of other animals, ,and supposed to be connected with the sense of hearing, of touch, or of both united. The antennae are very short in larvse, and of various sizes and forms in other insects. The mouth of some insects is made for biting, that of others for taking food only by suction. In biting-insects the parts of the mouth, which are variously modified to suit the nature of the food, are these : an upper and an under lip, two nippers or jaws on each side, moving sidewise, and not up and down, and four or six little jointed members, called palpi or feelers, whereof two belong INTRODUCTION. 9 to the lower lip, and one or two to each of the lcrwer jaws. T h e mouth of sucking-insects consists essentially of these same parts, but so different in their shape and in the purposes for which they are designed, that the resemblance between them and those of biting-insects-is not easily recognised. Thus the jaws of 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 Japping, 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 designee! only for making punctures and drawing in liquid nourishment. T h e p^rts belonging to the thorax are the wings and the legs. T h e former are two or four in number, and vary greatly in form and consistence, in the situation of the wing-bones or veins, as they are generally called, and in their position or the manner in which they are closed or folded when at rest. T h e under-side of the thorax is the breast, and to this are fixed the legs, which are six in number in adult insects, and in the larvae and pupae of those that are subject only to a partial transformation. T h e parts of the legs are the hip-joint, by which the leg is fastened to the body, the thigh, the shank (tibia), and the foot, the latter consisting sometimes of one joint only, more often of two, three, four, or five pieces (tarsi), connected end to end, like the joints of the finger, and armed at the extremity with one or two claws. Of the larva) that undergo a complete transformation, maggots and some others are destitute of legs ; many grubs have six, namely a pair beneath the under-side of the first three segments, and sometimes an additional fleshy prop-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. T h e abdomen, or hindmost, and, as to size, the principal part of the body, contains the organs of digestion, and other internal parts, and to it also belong the piercer and the sting with which 2 10 INSECTS. INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. many winged or adult insects are provided. T h e 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, containing a central borer, or instruments like saws, designed for making holes wherein the eggs are to be inserted. T h e 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. T h e parts belonging to the abdomen of larvse 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 probably too great for our country, where vast tracts are covered with forests, and the other original vegetable races still hold possession of the soil. There are above 1200 flowering plants in Massachusetts, t and it will be within bounds to estimate the species of injects 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 1 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. T h e first great divisions are called orders, of which the following seven are very generally adopted by naturalists. 1. — C O L E O P T E R A (Beetles). Insects with jaws, twTo thick wing-covers meeting in a straight line on the top t>f the back, and two filmy wings, which are folded transversely. Transformation complete. Larvse, 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 injurious to vegetation. The tiger-beetles (CicindeladcR*), the preda* Seethe Catalogue of Insects appended to Professor Hitchcock's Report on the Geology, Mineralogy, Botany, and Zoology of Massachusetts. 2d edit. 8vo. Amherst. 1835. INTRODUCTION. 11 ceous ground-beetles (CaraMdce), the diving beetles (Dytiscidce), the lady-birds (Coccinelladce), and some others, are eminently serviceable by preying upon caterpillars, plant-lice, and other noxious or destructive insects. The water-lovers (Hydrophilidce), rove-beetles (Staphylinidce), carrjon-beetles (Silphadce), skin-beetles (Dermesladce, ByrrhidcB) and Trogidce), bone-beetles (some of the Nitiduladce and Cleridce), and various kinds of dung-beetles (Sphceridiadce, Histeridce, Geotrupidce*, Copridida*, and Aphodiada*), and clocks (Pimeliadce and Blaptidce), act the useful part of scavengers, by removing carrion, dang, and other filth, upon which alone they and their larvss 'subsist. Many Coleoptera (some Staphylinidce and Nitiduladce, Diaperididce, some Serropalpidce, Mycetophagidce, 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 stagbeetles (Lucanidce), some spring-beetles (Elateridce), darkling beetles (Tenebrionidce), and many bark-beetles (HelopidcE, Cisteladce, Serropalpida, (EdemeradcR, Cucujada, and some Trogositadce), 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 (Cantharididce) have, for a long time, been employed with great benefit in the healing art. 2 — O R T H O P T E R A (Cockroaches, Crickets, Grasshoppers, fyc). 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 (Mantidce), which prey on other insects, are injurious to our household possessions, or destructive to vegetation. 3. — H E M I P T E R A . (Bugs, Locusts, Plant-lice, &fc). Insects with a horny beak for suction, four wings, whereof the uppermost are generally thick at the base, with thinner extremi* All the Scarabasidse of my Catalogue, from Meuchus to Geotrupes inclusive, to which may be added many included in the genus Scarabceus. 12 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. ties, which lie flat, and cross each other on the top of the back, or are of uniform thickness throughout, and slope at the sides like a roof. Transformation partial. Larvse and pupse nearly like the adult insect, but wanting wings. The various kinds of field and house bugs give out a strong and disagreeable smell. Many of them, (some Pentatomadce and Lygceidce, Cimicidce, Reduviadce, Hydrometradce, Nepadce, and Nbtonectadce), 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 cicadse, tree-hoppers, plant-lice, bark-lice, mealy bugs, and the like, that suck the juices of plants, and require the greatest care and watchfulness on our part to keep them in check. 4 . — N E U R O P T E R A (Dragon-flies, Lace-winged flies; Mayflies, Ant-lion, Day-fly, White ants, fyc). Insects with jaws, four netted wings, of which the hinder ones are the largest, and no sting or piercer. Transformation complete, or partial. Larva and pupa various. The white ants, wood-lice, and wood-ticks (Termitidce and Psochidce), the latter including also the little ominous death-watch, are almost the only noxious insects in the order, and even these do not injure living plants. The dragon-flies, or, as they are commonly called in this country, devil's needles (Libelluladce), prey upon gnats and mosquitos ; and their larvae and pupoe, as well as those of the day-flies (Ephemeradce), sembWdLins (Semblididce), and those of some of the May-flies, called cadis-worms (Phryganeadce), all of which live in the water, devour aquatic insects. The predaceous habits of the antlions (Myrmeleontidce) have been often described. The lace-winged flies (Hemerobiadce), in the larva state, live wholly on plant-lice, great numbers of which they destroy. The mantispians (Mantispadce), and the scorpion-flies (Panorpadce), are also predaceous insects. 5 . — - L E P I D O P T E R A (Butterflies and Moths). Mouth with a spiral sucking-tube ; wings fouf) covered with branny scales. Transformation complete. T h e larvse are caterpillars, and INTRODUCTION. 13 have six true legs, and from four to ten fleshy prop-legs. Pupa with the cases of the wings and of the legs indistinct, and 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, fruits, seeds, bark, pith, stems, and roots of plants. 6. — H Y M E N O P T E R A (Saw-flies, Ants, Wasps, Bees, v ^ c ) . Insects with jaws, four veined wings, in most species, the hinder pair being the smallest, and a piercer ousting at the extremity of the abdomen. Transformation complete. Larvae mostly maggot-like, or slug-like, of some, caterpillar-like. Pupae with the legs and wings unconfined. In the adult state these insects live chiefly on the honey and pollen of flowers, and the juices of fruits. The larvae of the saw-flies (Tenihredinidce), under the form of false-caterpillars and slugs, are leafeaters, and are oftentimes productive of much injury to plants. ,Tne larvae of the xyphydrians (Xiphydriadcz), and of the horn-tails ( Uroceridce), are borers and wood-eaters, and consequently injurious to the plants inhabited by them. Pines and firs suffer most from their attacks. Some of the warty excrescences on the leaves and stems of plants, such as oak-apples, gall-nuts, and the like, arise from the punctures of four-winged gall-flies (Diplolepididm), and the irritation produced by their larvae, which reside in these swellings. The injury caused by them is, comparatively, of very little importance, while, on the other hand, we are greatly indebted to these insects for the gall-nuts that are extensively used in coloring, and in medicine, and form the chief ingredient in ink. We may, therefore, write down these insects among the benefactors of the human race. Immense numbers of caterpillars and other noxious insects are preyed upon by internal enemies, the larvae of the ichneumon-flies (Evaniadce, Ichneumonidce, and Chalcididce), which live upon the fat of their victims, and finally destroy them. Some of these ichneumon-flies (Ichneumones ovulorum*) are extremely small, and confine their attacks to the eggs of other insects, which they puncture, and the little creatures produced Now placed among the Proctotrwpid<£, 14 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. from the latter find a sufficient quantity of food to supply all their wants within the larger eggs they occupy. The ruby-tails (Chrysididce), and the cuckoo-bees (Hylceus, Sphecodes, Nomada, Melecta, Epeolus, Ccelioxys, and Stdis), 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 woodwasps (Crdbronidce), and numerous kinds of sand-wasps (Larradce* BeinbicidcB, Spegidce, Pompilidce, and Scoliadce), mud-wasps (PeJopceus), the stinging velvet-ants (Mutilladce), and the solitary wasps (Odynerus and Ewnenes), 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 Jhough these industrious little animals sometimes prove troublesome by their fondness for sweets, yet, as they seize and destroy many insects also, their occasional trespasses may well be forgiven. Even the proverbially irritable paper-making wasps and hornets (Polistes and Vespa), are not without their use in the economy of nature; for they feed their tender offspring not only with vegetable juices, but with the soft parts of other insects, great numbers of which they seize and destroy for this purpose. The solitary and social bees (Andrenadce and Apidce) live wholly on the honey and pollen of flowers, and feed their young with a mixture of the same, called bee-bread. Various kinds of bees are domesticated for the sake of their stores of wax and honey, and are thus made to contribute directly to the 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 hymenopterous insects seek only the gratification of their own inclinations, in their frequent visits to flowers, they carry on their bodies the yellow dust or pollen from one blossom to another, and scatter it over the parts prepared to receive and be fertilized by it, whereby they render an important service to vegetation. ' 7 . — D I P T E R A (Mosquitos, Gnats, Flies, fyc). Insects with a horny or fleshy proboscis, two wings only, and two knobbed threads, called balancers or poisers, behind the wings. Transformation complete. T h e larvae are maggots, without feet, and with the breathing-holes generally in the hinder extremity of the body. Pupse mostly incased in the dried skin of the larvse, some- INTRODUCTION. 15 times, however, naked, in which case the wings and the legs are visible, and are found to be more or less free or unconfinecL 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 bloodthirsty propen-, sities of gnats and mosquitos (Culicida), and also from those of certain midges (Ceratopogon and Simulium), including the tormenting blackflies (Simuluim molestum) of this country. The larvae of these insects live in stagnant water, arid subsist on minute aquatic animals. Horseflies and the golden-eyed forest-flies (Tabanidce), whose larvae live in the ground, and the stinging stable-flies (Stomoxys), which closely resemble common house-flies, and in the larva state live in dung, attack both man and animals, goading the latter sometimes almost to madness by their severe and incessant punctures. The winged horseticks (Hippohosca), the bird-flies (Ornithomyice), the wingless sheepticks (Melophagi), and the spider-flies (Nycteribice,), and bee-lice (Braulce)) which are also destitute of wings, are truly parasitical in their habits, and pass their whole lives upon the skin of animals. Botflies, or gad-flies, (CEstridce,), 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 larvss, 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 (Cecidomyice), including the wheat-fly and Hessian fly, the rooteating maggots of some of the long-legged gnats (Tipulce), those of the flower-flies (Anthomyice), and the two-winged gall-flies and fruitflies {Ortalides)-. To this list of noxious flies, are to be added the common house-flies (Musca), which pass through the maggot state in dung and other filth, the blue-bottle or blow-flies, and meat-flies (LucilicB and Calliphorce), together with the maggot-producing or 16 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. viviparous flesh-flies (Sarcophagce and Cynomyice), 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 larvae 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 larvae live in stagnant water, such as gnats (CulicMce), feather-horned gnats (Chironomus^ & c ) , the soldier-fiies (Stratiomyadce), the rat-tailed flies (flelophilus, &c. & c ) , tend to prevent the water from becoming putrid, by devouring the decayed animal and vegetable matter it contains. The maggots of some flies (Mycetophilce and various t Muscadce) live in mushrooms, toadstools, and similar excrescences growing on trees; those of others (Sargi, Xylophagidce, Asilidce, Therevcs, Milesice, Xylota, Borbori, &c.' & c ) , in rotten wood and bark, thereby joining with the grubs of certain beetles to hasten the 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 (AsilidcB) Rhagionidce^ Dolichopidcz, and Xylophagidca), prey on other insects. Some (Syrphidce), though not predaceous themselves in the winged state, deposit their eggs among plant-lice, upon the blood of which their young afterwards subsist. Many (ConopidcB, excluding Stomoxys, Tachince, Ocypterce, Phorm, &c.) lay their eggs on caterpillars, and on various other larvae, within the bodies of which the maggots hatched from these eggs live till they destroy their victims. And finally others (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 maggots of 17 INTRODUCTION. 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. T h e 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 show the mutual relations of these orders, when they are arranged in a continuous series, but these can be better expressed and understood by grouping the orders together in a cluster, so that each order shall come in contact with several others. Besides these seven orders, there are several smaller groups, which some naturalists have thought proper to raise to the rank of independent orders. Upon the principal of these, a few remarks will now be made. T h e little order S T R E P S I P T E R A of Kirby, or R H I P I P TERA.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 P e c k in the common brown wasp (Polistes fuscata) of this country. T h e larva is maggot-like, and lives between the rings of the back of the wasp ; the pupa resembles that of some flies, and is cased in the dried skin of the larva. In the adult state the Strepsipterous insects have a pair of short, narrow, and twisted members, instead of fore-wings, and two very large hind-wings, folded lengthwise like a fan. The'mouth is provided with a pair of slender, sharp-pointed jaws, better adapted for piercing than for biting. It is very difficult to determine the proper place of these insects in a natural arrangement. Latreille put them between the Lepidoptera and Diptera, but thinks them most nearly allied to some of the Hymenoptera. T h e flea trib6 (JPulicida) was placed among the bugs, or Hemiptera, by Fabricius. It constitutes the order A P T E R A of Leach, SIPHONAPTERA of Latreille, and APHANIPTERA of Kirby. Fleas are destitute of wings, have a mouth fitted for suction', and provided with several lancet-like pieces for making punctures ; they undergo a complete transformation; their larvae are worm-like and without feet; and their pupae have 3 18 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. the legs free. These insects, of which there are many different kinds, are intermediate in their characteristics between the H e miptera and the Diptera, and seem to connect more closely these two orders together. T h e ear-wigs (Forficuladce), 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 transformations, and active pupae. T h e y form the little order D E R M A P T E R A of Leach, or E U P L E X O P T E R A of Westwood. T h e spider-flies, bird-flies, sheep-tick, &c. {Hippobo sendee), which, with Latreille and others, I have retained among the Diptera, form the order HOMALOPTERA of Leach, and the English entomologists. T h e May-flies, or case-flies (Phryaneadte), have -been separated from the Neuroptera ; and constitute the order T R I C H O P TERA of Kirby. Latreille and most of the naturalists of the continent of Europe still retain t h e m ' i n Neuroptera, to which they seem properly to belong. T h e order BOMEOPTERA of MacLeay, was made to include the horned-tailed wood-wasps (Uroceridce)^ which, however, are retained in the order Hymenoptera by all other naturalists. In form and habits the larvae of these insects closely resemble the wood-eating larvae of some beetles. Certain intermediate groups connect them, however, with the saw-flies (Tenthredinida), and the latter, though truly Hymenopterous insects, approach the Lepidoptera in the forms and habits of their larvae, or false caterpillars, and in the nature of their transformations. T h e Thrifts 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 T H Y SANOPTERA of Haliday ; but I propose to leave it, as Latreille has done, among the Hemiptera. T h e English entomologists separate from Hemiptera the cicadas or harvest-flies/lantern-flies, frog-hoppers, plant-lice, barklice, & c , under the name of H O M O P T E R A ; but these insects INTRODUCTION. 19 seem too nearly to resemble the true Hemiptera to warrant the separation. " Burm'eister, a Prussian naturalist, has subdivided the Neuroptera into the orders NEUROPTERA and DICTYOTOPTERA, the latter to include the species which undergo only a partial transformation. If Hemiptera is to be subdivided, as above mentioned, then this division of Neuroptera will be justifiable also. Objections have often been raised against the study of natural history, and many persons have been discouraged from attempting it, on account of the formidable array of scientific names and terms, which it presents to the beginner ; and some men of mean and contracted minds have made themselves merry at the expense of naturalists, and have sought to bring the writings of the latter into contempt, because of the scientific language and names they were obliged to employ. Entomology, or the science that treats of insects, abounds in such names more than any other branch of natural history; for the different kinds of insects very far 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 all well-educated persons in all parts of1 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 insects, two of which are moths, two are flies, and two are beetles. Moreover, since nearly four thousand species of weevils have actually been scientifically named and described, when mention is made of " the weevil", it may well be a subject of doubt to which of these- four thousand species the speaker or writer intends to refer ; whereas, if the scientific name of the species in question were made known, this doubt would at once be removed. To give to each of these 20 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. weevils a short, appropriate, significant, and purely English name would be very difficult, if not impossible, and there would be great danger of overburdening the memory with such a number of names ; but, by means of the ingenious and simple method of nomenclature invented by Linnaeus, these weevils are all arranged under three hundred and fifty^five generical, or sir names, 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 Ruminantia stands for camels, lamas, giraffes, deer, antilopes, goats, sheep, and kine, or for all the hoofed quadrupeds, which ruminate or chew the cud, and have no front teeth in the upper jaw ; Lepidoptera includes all the various kinds of butterflies, hawk-moths, and millers or moths, or insects having wings covered with branny scales, and a spiral tongue instead of jaws, and whose young appear in the form of caterpillars. It would be 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, 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, and 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 ear, as they are clear and definite in their application. 21 COLEOPTERA. COLEOPTERA. B E E T L E S . — SCAKAB^EIANS. ERS OR M A Y - B E E T L E S . OR S A W - H O R N E D GROUND-BEETLES. FLOWER-BEETLES. TREE-BEETLES. COCKCHAF- S T A G - B E E T L E S . — BUPRESTIANS, BORERS — S P R I N G - B E E T L E S — T I M B E R - B E E T L E S . — W E E - VILS. — C Y L I N D R I C A L B A R K - B E E T L E S . — C A # P R I C O R N - B E E T L E S , OR L O N G - H O R N ED B O R E R S . — L E A F - B E E T L E S . TOISE-BEETLES. CRIOCERIANS. LEAF-MINING BEETLES. TOR- CHRYSOMELIANS. — C A N T H A R I D E S . T H E wings of beetles are covered and concealed by a pair of horny cases or shells, meeting in a straight line on the top of the back, and usually having a little triangular or 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 Linneeus placed a group of insects, to which he gave the name of SCARABJEUS. It includes the largest and most robust animals of the beetle kind, many of them remarkable for the'singularity of their shape, and the formidable horn-like prominences with which they are furnished, — together with others, which, though they do not present the same imposing appearance, require to be noticed, on account of the injury sustained by vegetation from their attacks. An immense num•ber of Scarabseians (SCARAB-EID^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 antennser 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 (Clypeus) of the forehead, which extends more or leks over the face, like the visor or brim of a cap, and beneath the sides of this visor the antennas are implanted. The peculiar form of the forehead in these insects seems to have given rise to the term beetle* Beetle, in old English, betl, bytl, or bitel, means a biter, or insect that bites. 22 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. browed, applied to those persons who are remarkable for the prominence of their brows. Moreover, the-legs of these beetles, particularly the first pair, are fitted, for digging, being deeply notched, or furnished with several strong teeth on -the outer edges ; and the feet are five-jointed. This very extensive family of insects is subdivided into several smaller groups, each composed of beetles distinguished by various peculiarities of structure and habits. Some live mostly upon or beneath the surface of the earth, and were, therefore, called ground-beetles by D e Geer ; some, in their winged state are found on trees, the leaves of which they devour ; they are the tree-beetles of the same author; and others, during the same period of their lives, frequent flowers, and are called flower-beetles. T h e ground-beetles, including the earth-borers (Geotrujpidce)^ and dung-beetles (Copiididce and Jlphodiadce)) which, in all their states, are found in excrement, the skin-beetles (Trogidce), which x inhabit dried animal substances, and the gigantic Hercules-beetles (Dynastidce), which live in rotten wood or beneath old dung-heaps, must be passed over without further comment. T h e other groups contain insects that are very injurious to vegetation, and therefore require to be more particularly noticed. One of the most common, and the most beautiful of the treebeetles of this country is the Jlreoda 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 brownishyellow, or brassy, shaded with green. These fine beetles begin to appear in Massachusetts about the middle of May, and continue generally till the twentieth of June. In the morning and evening twilight they/ come forth from their retreats, and fly about with a humming and rustling sound among the branches of trees, the tender leaves of which they devour. Pear-trees are particularly subject to