Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1875-11-18
Insects Destroyed By Vegetables.

To a name of the window before when
| we write there il fastened dead fy,
| which lies with legs sprawled wildly,
with head bent away, the proboscis thrust
ont and the wings standing up unnatu-
rally. II has the appearance oil having
| suffered miserable deaih--its members
being twisted and contorted al though
with spasms ofpain. Examining its body
closely. we discover that white mold Is
| growing luxuriantly between the rings OF
| the abdomen and on the surface Of the
wings. and that joints Of the plant have
fallen off upon the window-gla covering
A space surrounding the insect OF nearly
AN inch in length and halfinch In width.
| What i the meaning Of these odd circum-
stances, and what brought The poor ny TO
| lis violent DEATH
II Isa clear case Of murder. The fly
was consumed by vegetable, fungus
that ate out It's vital organs, and Is now
| fattening ON its remains. The fungus IL
called Empusa Nusc0, and II In the habit
Of attacking house-flies in autumn. The
germs Of the plant floating In the air, or
| lurking in places visited ny the insect,
settle upon its body, and, finding congen-
| ial soil, take root and develop rapidly.
The wretched victim, helplessly yielding
| To the drain on IFS vitality, becomes slug
| pish. and, when at last IL - exhausted and
overcome, fixes itself to some object, and,
| incapable Of further action, perishes. In
stances are often seen like the one just
| described, where the fly settles on win.
| dow-pane, and there succumbs TO the
cannibal feeding on lis yitals. The
whole Of the interior organs OF the abdo-
men, . says d writer in Nature, " are con-
sumed by the plant-nothing remaining
| but the chitinous envelope, on which the
| mycelia (filaments) Of the fungus form
| feltlike layer the fruciificatiSn showing
| itself externally as tilarnents protrnding
from between, the rings oil the body"
| But the house-fiy ID not the only insect
that IL subject 10 the deadly attacks OF the
Emp,lsa. The single order OF insects that
at present seems 10 be exempt from the
rayages OF any Of the numerous species
Of this fungus Is the Neuroptera, which
| contains the dragon.fiies, etc. The plants
have been found growing (either on the
larva or the perfect insect ON bees, ants,
beetles, butterflies, moths, gnats, crickets,
aphides (plantlice) and water-insects. In
| some seasons the house.fy IL destroyed In
vast numbers by the parasites; and the
dung-fly has in certain localities been
nearly annihilated By IT, In the forests of
| Pomerania and Posen the caterpillars,
which work immense destruction among
the trees, have been held in check by a
| fungus which has killed such numbers as
really 10 save the forests from threatened
determination.
In certain seasons these caterpillars ap.
pear 10 suffer as from an epidemic; their
bodies swell 10 bursting, and white threads
"A Iatx
the rings. In this condition muititudes
are found still clinging to the leaves on
which they were feeding. The species Of
fungus which thus proves benefactor 10
the forester Of Northern Germany has
the Empusd auLic6.
There IL a species Of wasp In the West
Indies that IL commonly infested with
destructive fungus. II Is supposed that
the germs OF the plant find access 10 the
interior of the wasp's body through the
breathing pores at the side. Here they
develop In luxurious vegetation, sending
out their delicate Joints through the sur
face individuals have been seen with
plants az long as themselves projecting
| from different portions of their bodies
Very literally the tormented creatures
and fig.tree; but the shadow was in the
last degree baneful. The breath Of the
| Upas is not more deadly. In time the
fungus growth spreads through the body
and extinguishes the life Of the insect
After this the plant thrives more luxuri-
antly than ever--tbe decomposing tissue
of the dead body serving TO afford II more
| favorable nutriment than the living
structure. The particular fungus which
affects the wasp is known as the Iorrubta
| sphecoeephata.
About twenty-five species of this genus
are known To bcparastic on insects. Five
species have been observed in South Car.
olina, one In Pennsylvania, on the larve
Of TIE May.bug; and one other North
American species on nocturnal moths.
| One species has been noticed In Cayenne;
one In Brazil, on the laryg Of Cicada
commonly called locust, and one on a
species Of ant. Two species are found In
the West Indies one In New Guinea, one
In Senegal, two In Australia, two in
New Zealand, two in India, one In
China and three In Great Britain.
The destructive silk worm disease termed
muscordtne IL produced by fungus DO.
| tTnlis bassiaHa. This minute vegetable
1 spftuih hilIDuRu tHt ihNy iiidSs Ufuthlll TIC
skin on which the worm depends as a store
| Of nourishment when itenters the chrysalis
state, and completely destroys the tissue.
The disease Is invariably fatal but does
not appear externally until after the death
Of the insect, when II quickly projects
through the skin. The infection Is spread
among the worms by particles from the
diseased portion OF sickly individual
| finding their way beneath the skin OF
healthy worms; or II Is propagated by the
diifnsi IN of the germs OF the plant
through the atmosphere. The caterpil-
lar, cirysais and moth of the slk-worm
are liable 10 the disease, but IL Is only
In the first that II occurs spontaneously.
| DIR. Cooke states In his treatise on
Fungi that, in the summer of 1926,
Prof. Sebert made large collection OF
caierpillars of the moth artieia pitlica, for
the purpose OF studying their mode of
| growth. On reaching their full size the
insects became abnormally soft, and sud.
denly died. Soon after death they grew
so hard and solid that II bent they would
snap In two. At the same time their bod
| les were covered with beautiful, shining
white mold. On putting some Of the
diseased caterpillars on a tree inhabited
| by apparently healthy individuals these
| last soon became affected like the others,
| and died In "a atmilar manner