ENTOMOLOGY.
[Footnote: From the American Naturalist, November, 1882.]
THE BUCKEYE LEAF STEM BORER.--In our account of the proceedings of the entomological sub-section of the A.A.A.S., at the 1881 meeting (see American Naturalist, 1881, p. 1009), we gave a short abstract of Mr. E.W. Claypole's paper on the above insect, accepting the determination of the species as Sericoris instrutana, and mentioning the fact that the work of Proteoteras æsculana Riley upon maple and buckeye was very similar. A letter recently received from Mr. Claypole, prior to sending his article to press, and some specimens which be had kindly submitted to us, permit of some corrections and definite statements. We have a single specimen in our collection, bred from a larva found feeding, in 1873, on the blossoms of buckeye, and identical with Mr. Claypole's specimens, which are in too poor condition for description or positive determination. With this material and with Mr Claypole's observations and our own notes, the following facts are established:
1st. We have Proteoteras æsculana boring in the terminal green twigs of both maple and buckeye, in Missouri, and often producing a swelling or pseudo-gall. Exceptionally it works in the leaf-stalk. It also feeds on the samara of maple, as we reared the moth in June, 1881, from larvæ infesting these winged seeds that had been collected by Mr. A.J. Wethersby, of Cincinnati, O.
2d. We have an allied species, boring in the leaf-stalk of buckeye, in Ohio, as observed by Mr. Claypole. It bears some resemblance to Proteoteras æsculana, but differs from it in the following particulars, so far as can be ascertained from the poor material examined: The primaries are shorter and more acuminate at apex. Their general color is paler, with the dark markings less distinctly separated. No distinct tufts of scales or knobs appear, and the ocellated region is traversed by four or five dark longitudinal lines. It would be difficult to distinguish it from a rubbed and faded specimen of æsculana, were it not for the form of the wing, on which, however, one dare not count too confidently. It probably belongs to the same genus, and we would propose for it the name of claypoleana. The larva is distinguished from that of æsculana by having the minute granulations of the skin smooth, whereas in the latter each granule has a minute sharp point.
3d. Sericoris instrutana is a totally different insect. Hence our previous remarks as to the diversity of food-habit in this species have no force--C.V.R.
DEFOLIATION OF OAK TREES BY DRYOCAMPA SENATORIA IN PERRY COUNTY, PA.--During the present autumn the woods and road-sides in this neighborhood (New Bloomfield) present a singular appearance in consequence of the ravages of the black and yellow larva of the above species. It is more abundant, so I am informed, than it has ever been before. In some places hardly any trees of the two species to which its attack is here limited have escaped. These are the black or yellow oak (Q. tinctoria) with its variety (coccinea), the scarlet oak and, the scrub oak (Q. ilicifolia). These trees appear brown on the hill-sides from a distance, in consequence of being altogether stripped of their leaves. The sound of the falling frass from the thousands of caterpillars resembles a shower of rain. They crawl in thousands over the ground, ten or twelve being sometimes seen on a square yard. The springs and pools are crowded with drowned specimens. They are equally abundant in all parts of the county which I have visited during the past week or two--the central and southeastern.--E. W. Olaypole, New Bloomfield, Pa.