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FIGURE 7.-PHYTOMETRA ZEA (HALF-LOOPER MOTH OF CORN).

a. The Moth.-8. Grown Caterpillar.-e. First Position of Walking.-d. Larva feeding.-e. Caterpillars feeding.-f. Chrysalis.

in spun glass, and makes your eyes ache with its | Neither of them are what is called by entomolobrilliancy.

A friend brought me an ear of variegated corn, with a very full efflorescence of silk falling from it, upon which a minute white worm, with a pinkish head, was feeding. Four days after, it spun its cocoon amidst the silk as you see (Figure 6, c), and in two weeks it came forth this beautiful winged creature. It was the admiration of a number of persons; but one, more anxious to see it closer, approached the window, and away she flew like a golden spangle out into the world-a - an atom of exquisite finish and beauty. I was well pleased that I had painted her, and more so that she had flown away. I could not reconcile myself to the thought that, like other bright loved ones of earth, so much beauty must fade, perish, and become dust.

Phytometra Zea-"Half-looper Moth of the Corn" (Figure 7). This insect has exercised a vast number of minds in discussing its identity with the celebrated "Boll-worm" of the cotton plant. But on comparing the perfect moths a great discrepancy will be found, although there is so much resemblance between the larva.

gists "nice eaters;" that is, refusing any other but the one particular plant. The boll-worm will not starve, but she certainly has a choice. The moth Phytometra Zea, in the larva state, will devour young grass seeds, and thrive equally as well as upon corn, or wheat in the milk, or rice; in fact, upon any thing succulent and juicy. But you could not feed the boll-worm on corn, or on any of the Gramineæ. This moth is found throughout the country wherever Indian corn grows; but the "Boll-worm moth" never strays from the cotton-fields. The worm is at first greenish, turning to a brownish hue near the time it is about to moult, and appearing of intermediate shades in the interval. It is naked, or covered with a line of hairs on the back after the last moult: it has a yellow stripe running through the segments with black dots intervening. It is only found when corn is in the milky state, and descends into the earth for transformation when the grain hardens. It has the oddest, most uncouth position when it first starts to walk, as if the tail was not its own; but after the arch in its half-expansion is once

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FIGURE 8.-SITOPHILUS GRANARIA (CORN WEEVIL). a The Weevil.-b. Grown Grub.-e. Young Grub.-d. Grub feeding.. Egg. f. Pupa in the Grain

formed, it travels over the ground quite rapidly. The eggs are deposited by the moth in a cluster on the very apex of the young ear, where they are protected by the sheath leaves until the grains are forming, when they commence to eat downward, as you perceive, sheltered by the leaves, which are withdrawn to show the habit of these larvæ. They are very destructive while they last, and very wasteful, often eating out only the kernel of every grain and leaving the rest. When ready to descend it falls gently by a long thread to the ground. When on the surface it rolls and twists its body until it sinks into a cavity, which it lines with silk very slightly, binding and gumming the grains of sand over it until a rough cocoon is formed. Here it changes into a bright-brown chrysalis, with its wings very distinctly marked, and remains over until the next season.

The moth, if the worm has been well fed, expands nearly two inches. It is a leonine yellow on the upper wings, with two bands running

across of a more tawny yellow, with an irregular and darker spot in the centre of each. In some specimens they are quite crescent-shaped. The under wings are of a lighter color, with bands of brown, almost black, on the margins, with a crescent-shaped spot in the centre of each. The thorax and body are a mixture of black, dark brown, and yellow hairs.

Sitophilus Granaria-"Corn Weevil" (Figure 8). This insect, although not very common, is daily on the increase. It was first sent to me found in some seed-corn procured from the Patent-office at Washington. It belongs to the Coleoptera order, genus Calandra, and sub-genus Sitophilus, and is without doubt the Curculio granarius of Linnæus. It has a long thorax, which, as well as the wings, are deeply punctured; they do not cover the abdomen entirely. It is of a pitch-red color. They are principally found on corn which has been "husked," or shelled from the cob. The mother weevil bores a hole in the grain, in which she drops an egg, going from grain to grain until she has deposited nearly two hundred eggs. The grub is rather cylindrical at first, but as it grows older it becomes more slender. It is of a yellowish white, with a few black hairs on the head. Sometimes it has a lead-colored tinge; then, again, red or brown, if the corn is colored. It eats only the one grain it is placed in, which suffices for its larder and cradle, where it spins a slight envelope of silk, and turns into a pupa, remaining over until the next season, when it comes out a perfect weevil, ready to recommence its depredations. You may multiply this insect to any extent by leaving old grain about, or keeping dusty, unswept granaries. They will eat any kind of grain, but always prefer corn.

Pyralis Farinalis-" Meal Moth," or "Corn Moth" (Figure 9). Here is a very pretty little, brisk, active body, which resembles somewhat a pigeon when her wings are folded and she is at rest. The Pyralis Farinalis is indifferent whether she places her eggs on the husky portion at the base of the grain, or in the meal, or on the grooves of the barrel or box it is kept in. When she chooses the grain the caterpillars devour it entirely, and go off to others, until they have fed their appointed time. The grains are eaten in a very irregular manner, quite different from the way of eating exhibited by the grubs of the weevils. The caterpillar is pink, sometimes red, and about a quarter of an inch long when full grown. The cocoon is made of corn-dust and other particles, bound together with silk. It is oval in shape, very bushy with odds and ends. It is either attached to the outside of the grain, or between two or three shells drawn round it, or against any wood-work near by, or hid away flat in a corner of the bin or box, wherever it may be when ready to transform. The chrysalis is very delicate, of a pale brown, with the wing-cases quite transparent. It is a very pretty insect. The upper wings are of a chestnut-brown, crossed by two curved lines of white, with small dark spots near the centre, with lighter edges around

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a. The Moth.-b. Moth at Rest.-c. Caterpillar.-d. Caterpillars in a Grain of Corn.-e. Cocoon and Chrysalis.

them, and chocolate-brownish colored spots at the tip of each. The under wings are of a light brown, and deeply fringed. The head, thorax, and body are brown, with dark hairs sprinkled over them.

I know no little moth that is so fond of being perched in our parlors as this. She is very sociable, and can be seen all summer visiting our pantries, and spying into meal-boxes and cornbins. She is, I am sorry to say, a very foolish little moth, always "allured by taper's gleaming light," and can be found in numbers around the lamps in farm-houses during the summer months.

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Tinea Zea- "Meal Moth" (Fitch) (Figure 10). The Meal Moth is a very common, sedate-looking insect. Her fore-wings are gray and bluish, dappled with white; there are bands and spots of tawny yellow on the tips, but they are so very indistinct that they are scarcely perceptible, except when she has just emerged and newly dried. The hindwings are white, with a leaden tinge over them, with long silken fringe; the body is a medley of yellow, black, white, and gray hairs. No color is paramount or in The caterpillar is shining; a yellowish brown; has a hard, horny head, and sixteen feet. The eggs are scattered through the meal on which the caterpillars feed when hatched. When it is ready to transform it spins a loose cocoon against a post, or the barrel or box in which the meal is kept, and changes into a paleyellow chrysalis, with brown lines on the

excess.

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FIGURE 10.-TINEA ZEA (MEAL-MOTH).

a. The Moth.-b. Caterpillar.-c. Cocoon on a Post.-d. Chrysalis in a Yeast Cake.

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a. The Beetle.-8. The Grub.-c. Grubs feeding-d. Pups between Grains.-. Head and Thorax of Sylvanus.-f. Antennæ.

Colydium Obliveata-"Flat Corn Beetle" (Figure 11). This belongs to the Coleoptera order, genus Colydium. It has been classed by some authors with the Sylvanus-a subgenus of the Ipsites. This is erroneous. This last has eleven joints in the antennæ; the thorax and head are broader than in the former, becoming quite narrow where it joins the abdomen. You can compare the two. The Colydium is very straight, flat, and narrow, and has twelve joints in the antennæ. It is of a bright chestnut-brown color; the wing-cases, or exterior wings, slightly punctured. She is so very flat that she creeps in between the grains on the cob, depositing her eggs at the base of the kernels. The grubs, as soon as hatched, eat into the grains, eventually devouring all the starchy parts of the interior, leaving the grains still standing but loosened. A whole ear can be thus destroyed, and only show exteriorly a transparent appearance when held up to the light. But strike it against something, and out they will tumble-beetles and the refrain of the German seed-sowing song:

grains, and change each into a brownish red chrysalis, remaining over as long as the negligence of the planter or farmer allows them.

You must not conclude that you have here all the insects destructive to Indian corn. These are only a few selections from the host, which is always on the look-out to perform their missions. Some orders, which are equally injurious, are not represented at all, as my space would not allow me to treat of them. But from these you can always be able to class a goodly number; for all weevils puncture alike, and all beetles gnaw or eat in the same manner. The larvæ or caterpillars of moths exhibit their difference to those of the Coleoptera, which are grubs; and by a close examination of these you can know where to find their abodes in the earth around the corn and in the grain.

larvæ by the hundred. The latter are very downy and whitish, scarcely differing in color from the corn itself. When ready to go into pupa they spin a slight envelope between the

With thankful hearts to the Giver of all good for the immense crops spared to us, even with such odds against us, we feel willing to join in

"Fall gently and still, good corn,

Lie warm in thy earthy bed,
And stand so yellow some morn,

For beast and man must be fed."

THE FIGHT AT ORISKANY.*

morn,

AUGUST 5, 1777.

O the fifth of August, in th rows of corn, Their force too rt close with Willett

Where Gansevoort lay

When I heard Dirck Bergen blow his horn.

I let the reins in quiet drop;

I bade my horse in the furrow stop,
And the sweet green leaves unheeded crop.
Down at the fence I waited till

Dirck galloped down the sloping hill,
Blowing his conch-horn with a will.

66

Ho, neighbor! stop!" to Dirck I cried,
"And tell me why so fast you ride-
"What is the news you scatter wide?"

He drew the rein, and told me then
How with his seventeen hundred men
St. Leger vexed the land again.

A fiendish crew around him stood-
The Tory base, the Hessian rude,
The painted prowler of the wood-
The savage Brant was in his train,
Before whose hatchet, quick to brain,
Fell patriot blood in scarlet rain-

How all this force, to serve the crown,
And win in civil strife renown,
Before Fort Schuyler settled down,

Bristling like hunted bucks at bay.

And Dirck, by Herkimer, the stout,
Was sent to noise the news about,
And summon all to arm and out.

Far must he spread the word that day,
So, bidding me come to join the fray,
And blowing his horn, he rode away.

I had been married then a year;
My wife to me was doubly dear,

For a child had come our home to cheer.

I had not mingled in the strife
That swept the land; my aim in life
To tend my farm, and cheer my wife.

I watched my flocks and herds increase,
And plowed my land and held my peace:
Men called me the Tory, Abner Reece.

Yet now the country needed all
Her manly sons to break her thrall;
Could I be deaf to her piteous call?

I thought me of the cruel foe,
The red-skinned Mingo, skulking low,
The midnight raid, the secret blow-

ORISKANY is a village in Central New York, about eight miles west of Utica. The battle fought here on the 5th of August, 1777, was one of the most desperate of the whole Revolutionary war. The incidents given in the following ballad are historically accurate. The taunts which forced Herkimer to advance before he wished; his reply to his officers; the ambush; the "brave old Dutchman" sorely wounded sitting under a tree, smoking his pipe, and giving his orders; the thunder-storm which for a time interrupted the fight; the stratagem of Johnson, detected by Gardinier, and the flight of the Indians, are all detailed by Mr. Lossing, in his "Field-Book of the Revolution." Herkimer died of his wound nine days after the battle. His leg, shattered by the ball which had killed his horse, was amputated. The surgeon, a young Frenchman, was drunk and unable to stanch the blood. The General seeing his end approaching called for a Bible, read aloud the 38th Psalm, then closed the book, and died. No portrait of him is known to exist. All that Mr. Lossing could learn of his appearance was that he was "a large, square-built Dutchman."-Peter Gansevoort, who commanded at Fort Schuyler, was a native of Albany. For his gallant defense of the fort he received the `hanks of Congress. He died in 1812, aged sixty-two years, having held several important offices of trust.-Marinus

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