Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1881-06-23

miller known to entomoloPists as the
Sphnir 1anpism0culatu@ or Fivespotted
| SPHINX. This moth IL OF u greyish color.
| having five orange. colored spots on
each side of its body. from which it
| takes it's name. 1t may be seen ia the
| summer twilight in our gardens. Hitting
| from flower To flower. from which they
| extract the sweet juices by means Of a
| remarkable tongue. sometimes five or
| six inches long. This tongue or pro.
! boscis when not in use is cOiled up and
slowed away between the two feelcrs.
/ The hawk moth j. frequently taken for
/ humming bird, which at first sight ii
much resembles, although it's fight il
much slower and it is more easily ap.
| proached The first OF this army Of
| moths come along in June, but not
numerously as a rule. 1t is the opinion
/ of some that dry weather early in the
season is unfavorable to its production,
! while an early wet season makes them
/ more plentiful. However tins may be,
| the hawk moth comes along in June
| and deposits its eggs on the under side
/ Of the leaves, when the lants are
/ about foot high. At fret these eggs
are grcenmh in color, but gradually
/ grow yellowish or cream color, and in
! about twenty four hours the Matching
/ process Ia completed, when the nina.
/ ture tobaccoo worm. hardly thicker
/ than a hair and only an cleth OF an
/ inch long, issues forth on its mission of
/ destruction. Should the eggs have been
+ deposlted on the upper side OF the leaf.
( the minute worm at once eats small
/ hole through the leaf and passes to the
under side to continue its deprcdatlons.
1 From the first its appetite is most raven.
/ Gus, although the damage during the
( fret four or five day. of its existence il
/ small, because OF their dlmiuutiye tizc.
| At the end OF about FIVE days il sheds
J its old skin and makes it's appearance
I in new dress. Ihi. is the signal for q
renewal Of its career Of destruction. II
not arrested in It's course 1t will soon
ruin the most promising crop. Not
content with running single leaf, it
will, If left alone, destroy an entire
plant, and sometimes more. IL con.
tinues TO grow for twenty five or thirty
days. when, having attained It, full size,
continues 10 gorge itself on the Iuice of
the plant few days longer, after which
IT crawls 10 the ground. which it enters.
and where it remains In the pupa state
about twenty five days. when IT once
more sends forth a hawk moth, to re.
peat the work OF destruction.
NECESSITY TOR ITS DI.rRrcrioS.
As each moth LAYS about two ohundrcd
/ eggs, it at once becomes apparent that
7 the second crop OF tobacco worms,
which comes along IN August. is much
more numerous than the first one.
What j. more. IL comes about the time
when the plants are sending out suck.
ers. among which many taEs refuge
when quite small. and thus escape de-
lection, The necessity of resort 10
+ every possible means Of dcstruction at
/ once becomes apparent. Every moth
killed before II Laws lta numerous brood
oi eggs is 80 much towards killing oil
. the hosts that come later ou in the sea.
son. Every moth destroyed in June.
means al least one hundred worms lcss
( IN August Hence the importance of
+ vigorous warfare against the earliest
F horde that makes IT appearance. Tn.
I less this IL done the later army j. some.
+ times 50 great s. to literally defy the
( most determined efforts of the tobacco
I farmer.
nov To XIII ThE uAWk HeTu.
Numerous methods have been sur.
+ cested and are employed to destroy tins
{ magnificent moth. 1t seems 70 have
I strong inclination for the sweet juices
\ found in the " ,Iimson or jamestown
weed l.N~1momum, and wherever this
plant grows the hawk moth wIll he
found towering over its flowers IN the
summer nights. We have also noticed
+ that it affects the flowers Of the prim.
rose--,hese plants are regularly resort
I ed TO by them for food. These. then.
are the places to kill them. While en-.
+ gagged IN extracting the nectar from
+ the flowers they may be approached
and killed. 4 light paddle will be
found a very effective implement for
I this purpose. The jamestown weed,
/ planted here and there through the
/ tobacco field, will be sure 10 draw
/ them. While this method of destroy.
I ing them is resorted To by some. Others
/ inject poison into the flowers OF the
I above plant and thus kill the moth. An
/ ounce of cobalt dissolved 10 a pint of
water is mixed with molasses and
drop or two put into every flower will
do the work effectualy. Sundown Is
the best time TO do this, and the flowers
so treated should be pulled off on the
following day, or the entire plant may
be destroyed. If left, bees will also find
the poison, and II not killed themselves,
will most surely present their owner
with poisoned honey.
HAWK MOTH TRAPS.
During the past few years wire traps
have been introduced which are hung
through the field, with flowers OF the
jamestown weed inserted as = bait.
They are reported as being efiectual,
considerable numbers of moths being
sometimes captured IN a single night.
An ingenious rennessesn has also con.
ceived the idea Of making imitation
jamestown weed flowers out of porce.
lain. These are charged with poison
every evening and hung through the
/ field Reiue cheau. LARGE numbers ran