The evening Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1861-1871, 1865-11-15

ways on its back, (Lytta pittdta.) Careless
observers might confound this last with the
40 striped Spearman' but the latter al
ways has ten black stripes on its back, nei-
Their more nor less, and the former never has
more than siz. Besides. the whole shape
and structure of the two insects is as differ.
emit as that of horse is from that of hog.
There is this essential difference, likewise,
between the habits of the two, that the blist-
ering beetles only feed on the potato in the
perfect or winged state, whereas both the
larva and the perfect beetle of the" 10 striped
Spearman" feed thereon, thereby, of course,
turing the vines to a much greater extent
There are several species of lady birds
{ Coccineliid1), which destroy the eggs of
this insect; aud as the eggs laid by many of
these lady birds are of the same shape and
color as those of the "l0-striped Spearman,"
and are scarcely distinguishable bat by their
smaller size, being attached in the same
manner to the leaf, care must be taken by
those who undertake to destroy the eggs of
the Potato bug. not to confound those OF their
best friends with those of their bitterest enc
| mics. The eggs of the "Spearmau" are yell
low, over 10th inch long. cylindrical, round
ed at each end, and more than twice as long
| as wide, and they are attached by one end in
clusters OF 20 or 80 to the under surface OF
| the leaf. 1t appears that in some localities a
true Bug, belonging to the Scuteliera family,
! and similar to the large, sinking bugs often
| found on raspberries and black berries, des-
troys the "Spearman" while it is in the larys
| state, by puncturing it with its long beak
| and sucking out its juices. And Mr.. Sinner
of Carroll Co., Ill, finds that 1t is attacked in
| the same way, while in the larva state, by
another csnnibal Bug with its legs beauti.
| fully banded with black and white, 1.-THE
Harpaetor cinctus of Fabricius,l of which he
| has sent me specimens, and which | havs
myself noticed preying on great variety OF
! other insects.
Almost the only remedy, hitherto found to
| be efectual against the depredations of the
l0-striped Spearman, If hand picking
them either in the egg, larvs or perfect
| state, or shaking the Larvae or perfect beetles
| off the vines into shallow pans for which
purpose tin pan with a lid similar to that
| of a common spittoon would probably be
| found very convenient, as the insects might
| then be shaken through the central hole from
| time to time. as they fall into the pan. and
| thereby be prevented from escaripg. Dust
ing lime, ashes. &c., upon the vines has been
| found to be perfectly useless, and both coal
| oil and terpentne have been tried as pre-
ventives, and in the words of Mr.. Hazan, OF
| Nebraska, proved to be mo more use than
so much water, as they soon evaporate." Mr..
| Orin E. Priest, of Mosinee, Wise, however,
| has found that turkeys are perfect remedy
for potato bugs" and as the old fashioned
potato bugs are deadly poison, and could not
be eaten by turkeys with impunity, it seems
| to follow that his experience must relate to
the Rocky Mountain insect, and consequently
that this species had already in 1865 made
its way, not only into Illinois, but also into
Wisconsin. II had" he says, "a patch in
my garden literally covered with the bugs,
| which was all cleared off by turning in the
! turkeys three or tour times. Also a piece in
| the field. IN which 1 turned a turkey with a
brood Of young; and there they have kept
them all of. and to day there is no sign of a
bug to be seen" N. T. Sem. Tribune, Aug
90, 1861 Turkeys have from time immem.
orial been employed occasionally tor worm.
ing" tobacco. the objection to which practice
| is that they injure many tobacco leaves AS
the same objection will not apply in the case
Of the potato, they may probably be found
very useful assistants in combating the 40
| striped Spearman." At first sight we might
suppose that common fowls would answer an
eqally good purpose but | an told by those
who have tried the experiment that they are
comparatively inefficient
Rock ISLAND, ILLINOIS, Sept. %, 1865.