Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1892-02-28

/
and is harmless. 1t has no wings, and
moves very slowly When trying 10 con-
ceal itself it will place itself in q position
/ with its forelegs and long antenn3 or feei-
/ ers in a line with its body forward, and its
! intermediate and hind legs backward and
| lie motionless, and looks Ike q piece of bark
| or part Of the plant on which it is found.
There is another insect known by the
local name of devils riding horse in the
| Southern states. I have seen few in
/ Texas. 1t resem bles somewhat the above
last mentioned It is Spectrum biTittatum
| of Say, also known as Anisomorpha bupre-
stroides Stall It's body is from an
| inch and a half in the male TO
| three inches in the female; the body is
| cylindrical rather hattened ON top; the
female is half an inch in diameter in the
center, tapering toward each end. a black
longitudinal line runs along the center of its
| back, with yellowish or brownish lines on
! either side. 1t has long legs and antenn8
| which are very slender. Is a plant feeder
and perfectly harmless. When disturbed
or handled it emits a smoky-like spray from
| the body which has a somewhat offensive
odor, but is noE-poiSonous. This is the
| clumsy insects means of defense.
J will quote from Thomas Say, who wrote
in 1926 his observations of this insect:
son a journey to Florida with DR..
Mcclure l obtained female which was
crawling up the body of an orange tree on
Cumberland Island, Ga The male I had
not seen until the recent return of
Mr.. T. Peale from that country, who
brought many individuals of both
sexes. He observed them in plenty in the
southern part of that region. They were
generally in pairs, on the palmetto. lying
close to the rib of the leaf Mr.. Peale re-
marked that when taken they discharge
milky fluid from two pores of the throaX,
diffusing strong odor, in great measure
like that of the common Grapthalium, or
''life everlasting" and as this plant was
growing near the place where they oc-
CURED, he supposed that it constituted at
least part of their food. They vary much
in color, and it is believed that the two
dorsal yellow stripes are never wanting
Says Entomology. vol l, p. 81.
1 hope you will be able to secure speci-
mems of this insect in the spring, but don't
be afraid of the "kerspat," as it looks
more like little fog or mist than anything
else. WILLIAM r. HOWARD.
Fort Worth, Tex.
DR.. Howard sent us some very good
drawings of the insects referred to in his
letter, but not being able to get them en-
graved to our satisfaction in time to make
them seasonable, we finally concluded to
print his favor without the illustrations.
The insect so well described by DR.. How
ard is most widely known by the common
name of walking stick, though in few
localities we have heard it called 1.-The
devils riding horse;'' but undoubtedly the
insect most generally known as devils
riding horse" is the Mantis carolina, illus
trated aud described by US last week.
OF the '1yalking sticlzs'' the slender
species described by Dr. Howard is
species of wide range, being found in all
the states from the Gulf of Mexico to Can
ada Professor Riley says of it in his
United States report for 1878;
Owing to its slender long-legged, slow
moving characteristics, it has been
properly dubbed the ''walking stick,''
stick bug, !" and 'specter, +" while in some
localities it is known as the '''prarie
alligator" devils riding horse' and
other odd cognomens generally indicative
of its appearance and of q superstition
which is quite prevalent, but most IN
founded, that it is poisonous and can sting
or bite.
This insect Spectrum femoratum), is
entirely harmless so far as relates to in
juries inflicted upon man or any other
living creature; still it correctly classes
with the insects injurious to vegetation,
owing to the fact that it feeds upon .vegeta-
ton exclusively, and, in some localities,
has been known to appear in large num-
bers. Professor Riley quotes Mr.. E. H.
Conklin of Cumberland county, Pennsyl-
vania, as stating:
This insect, though not at all common,
and seldom numerous, has made its annual
appearance in our peach orchards for forty
years, and only once in this time has it
been so numerous as to be injurious In
this instance, which was about ten years
ago, these insects denuded row of locust
trees that formed shelter on the north
west side of a peach orchard. For half a
dozen rods from the locust row the peach
trees were also stripped Of their leaves.
Previous to this time we never saw them
on any other trees except the peach. As to
color, some are light green and others
brown, among male and female. The
female has a much heavier body than the
male.
Professor Riley then goes on to state that
he has visited localities where the insect
was growing very destructive to vegeta-
tion, and adds:
The underbrush was very effectually
cleaned Of its foliage, and the insects hung
from and chung from the bare twigs and
branches in great clusters. When
ever they have entirely stripped the trees
and shrubs they move in bodies to fresh
pastures, crowding upon one another and
covering the ground, the fence rails and
everything about them, so that it is impos-
sible for person TO enter the woods with
out being covered by them.
Such visitations are doubtless extremely |
rare, but might. occur anywhere, therefore
the walking stick is to be regarded by the |
agriculturist with suspicion as being no |
friend. Further on, Professor Riley says
of this species:
The insect changes very little in appear
ance from birth to maturity, except so far
as color is concerned-it mpultS twice. |
Growth is rapid, averaging unoer favorable |
about six weeks from birth |
to maturity. With age the green color
gives way to various shades of green or
brown. In this way we find great CORE
spondence with surroundings. While the
vegetation is green the ''specters"
are green also; when the foliage turns
in autumn they change color correspond
ingly, and when the foliage is stripped, |
they so closely resemble, in both APP
and color, the twigs upon which
they rest-the habit of stretching out the
front legs and feelers greatly enhancing the
where they are few in
numbers it is difficult to recognize them. A
few green specimens, more particularly of
the males, may always be found, even |
among the mature individuals.
In contemplating these singular crea-
ID |