American Pomology. ApplesWarder, J. A. (John Aston)
Science
American Pomology. Apples
Warder, J. A. (John Aston)
Apples
=Blister-flies, or Beetles.=--There are several species of these
insects, each of which appears to have its favorite pasturage. They
are exceedingly voracious, but confine themselves chiefly to the
destruction of herbaceous vegetation, and are therefore obnoxious to
the farmer and gardener, who know them as the potato insects, than to
the fruit-grower. Their appetites are not very discriminating,
however, and when they are abundant they may consume the foliage of
our trees. These Blister-flies belong to the genus _Lytta_, and are
used as a substitute for the Spanish-fly of Europe, as they are
possessed of blistering qualities in no mean degree. They are wholly
different from the new potato destroyer of the West, the _Doryphora
10-lineata_, which is hemispherical, and is a leaf-eater, in the
larval as well as in the perfect state.
REMEDY.--Catch and kill all that can be found in the garden, or potato
field; scald, dry, and sell to the apothecary.
Before closing this section, it is but due to our many insect friends
in this order, to introduce a few of them to the reader. There are
several large families that are really serviceable to man; some of
these are called Scavengers, because they consume large quantities of
decaying matter that might prove noxious to us, were it allowed to
decay upon the surface of the ground. Among these are the
Dung-beetles, and the Carrion-beetles: others are carnivorous, and
some of these are called _Cicindelidæ_, or Tiger-beetles, from their
voracious consumption of other insects, which they devour in great
numbers, both in their larval and in their perfect form. These day
beetles are large, brightly colored, and very active in their
movements, as they run about in the sunny paths and roads, and cannot
fail to attract attention. Few persons are aware, however, of the
valuable aid they are rendering to man, nor of the credit that is due
to them for the preservation of our crops from the invasion of other
insect foes. Too often they are either unobserved and overlooked, or
even treated with the aversion and cruelty of men who ignorantly
attempt to stamp out all insect life, as though these creatures were
intruders upon their preemption. The intelligent observer of nature
will soon learn to respect each aid, which has been so wisely
furnished to assist him in his labors as a cultivator of the soil, and
all may admire the Wisdom that has provided at the same time such
beautiful and such useful creatures for the work.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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