The Hocking sentinel. [volume] (Logan, Ohio) 1871-1906, 1894-10-04
SOME INSECT PESTS.

i'rot. :. II. keIicott. o: the Ohio State
University. Gives an Interest ns Account
of Them.
That insects have strange tastes for
which there is no accounting no one
can deny. They are not alone partial
/ to the land and nUtritive juices and
living tissues of plants and animals,
/ but thrive likewise upon the poisonous,
the decayin". the dried In short, nc
organic thing is sacred to an insect.
( Stored products, vegetable or animal,
/ in herbarium. InuscUm, granary CT
warehouse arc subject to grave attacks
of insects, often resulting in serious
loss.
in this connection three species of
beetles have recently come TO the
writer's attention. They belong 20
families of had reputation well earned;
the Ptinid@ aud Bcrmcstid;e include
pests well known 20 all: the former are
most widely distributed is destrovers
Of vegetable matter. the latter of ami
NAL substances, although this is by no
means an invariable rule.
The ptini,'s are small, brown, oval
shaped Iectlcs that, when disturbed,
retract the head and legs and feign
death, but shortly revive. hurry away
or conceal themselves One of these,
an old offender, known to science as
Ldsioptera Ssy7icOrui and commonly as
the tobacco beetle" was recent
ly found destroying stored plants
IN an hcrbarium. 1t appeared to
prefer the seeds and flower.
heads of sunAower-lil1e sorts Scarcely
one of these was left untouched, many
were totally ruined. The mischief is
largely done by the young. which re-
semble the white grub so abundant in
the soil of gardens and grass plats. 1t
is, however, small, as the mature IL
sect measures only about one-eighth GS
an inch long.
Herbarium specimens that have been
dipped in a solution of corrosive SUBJ
Innate are not seriously injured by this
pest. However this treatment VIII not
do in all cases; tobacco, for example,
which it Injuries in all its forms-leaf,
plug. cigars. This is an offense which
Professor Smith thinks the entomolo-
gist could not forgive but for the fact
that it also pays its respects to Gig
arettes.
The second closely related species,
Saoderma panicea, has if possible, a
more varied taste than the former. 1t
occurred in the same herbarium, utter
ly destroying stored re OTIS of medicinal
plants. 1t is, in fact. well-known
drug pest, destroying by reducing
roots stems and leaves to powder. The
Young resemble those of the tobacco
beetle" although Il little smaller; the
adult also is not quite so large, mar
rover and covered with silky hairs.
The third beetle possesses more espe-
cial interest, as it was found destroy
ing stored corn, d habit that appears
not to have been heretofore recorded.
Last June quantity of injured pop
corn was brought to the writer with
query as to the cause of the destruction
and remedy. 1t was soon apparent
that the grains were being eaten by
small, elongate beetles larya; the shape
and the straight, stiff, lrown hairs on
its body and the longer tuft at the end
showed that it was related, at least, to
the dermstid. A large number of them
were confined with corn in q jar, and
after few weeks the adults appeared;i it
proved to be a beautiful one, u tenth of
an inch, more or less, in length, black
with clothing reddish and gray hairs
that concealed the sombre ground col.
or. 1t proves to be Tro9oderRaa 0rnatam,
say, and search of the literature of
corn destroying insects has not revealed
the fact that this habit of destruction
has been recorded. 1t may be a new
habit, or it may have, heretofore, been
too few in numbers to attract atten-
ton.
{ 1t doubtless may be effectually de-
stroyed by confning infected grain in
close bins and treating with bisrlphide
of carbon.
THE first japanese lady physician
has recently been licensed to practice
in Nagasaki. The lady's name is Ma
rie Saganiana, and she is said to have
obtained her medical education in Ohio.
UoG-GUEasING at so much guess is a
species of gambling peculiar to north
ern New Jersey. The farmer who
comes nearest to telling the porllcrs
+l,a an;p,nl