MO) FOR THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY, 1857. 118 feet. Barometer i reduced (English 6 a. m. 21 [A cloudy sky is represented by 10, a cloudless one by 0.] 716 30-229 30ri. 2, Clear. 29.729 10. Snow. Snow. 30-289 8. 29'961 8. 916 616 30'255 10. Most prevalent wind the W. by N. Least prevalent wind, the E. Aurora Borealis was visible on 3 nights. Zodiacal Light very bright and well-defined. The Electrical state of the atmosphere has indicated moderate Intensity. Ozone was in moderate quantity. 64 Rossignol" first heard on the 25th day. Wild Geese first seen on the 30th day. ARTICLE XX.-Notes on Insects now injuring the Crops in the vicinity of Montreal, by WILLIAM STEWART M. D'URBAN, Sub-curator, Montreal Natural History Society. My object in communicating the present paper, is to call the attention of this Society to the ravages which certain insects are at this moment committing amongst the crops in our vicinity, and to give such information about them as I have been able to collect. I trust some one with more leisure than myself will be induced to turn his attention to this interesting subject, and endeavour to complete the history of the different species of which at present we are quite ignorant. Being anxious to investigate the insects injurious to Agriculture in this country, I begged James Logan, Esq., to inform me when any species were observed infesting the crops on his property near Montreal. Accordingly about the middle of this month he kindly told me that "Cutworms" and other insects had been committing great havoc amongst his oats and Indian corn, &c., this spring, and on the 15th inst., I walked out with him to his farm; we first examined a patch of Indian corn, or maize, about 14 arpents in extent; it was planted from 23rd to 28th May. The soil of the field is a sandy loam, and was ploughed from grass last autumn; the plants were two or three inches high, but so many had been killed, it had been sown over a second time on the 8th June, and this last sowing had hardly sprouted at all. As soon as we reached the field we perceived many plants looking dead and withered, and set deeper in the soil than the healthy ones; on laying hold of these they instantly came up in our hands, and we found them cut through about half an inch below the surface of the ground; many had been severed at the junction of the stalk and the grain, and thus entirely destroyed; some had their tops cut off above ground, and the leaves caten: these will probably shoot again; many stalks were only partially cut through, but as the "worms" appear to eat out the heart of the plants, they are as effectually destroyed as if eaten entirely through. In most instances every plant in a cluinp or "hill" had been killed, though sometimes one or two of the strongest had been left untouched; in a portion, about twelve paces long, of one row, every plant on every hill was destroyed. On removing the earth from around the withered plants, we discovered a red-headed greyish larva coiled up just below the surface of the ground; we found one or two in almost every hill which we examined, and which showed any signs of their presence; but in a few cases we did not see any, probably having accidentally covered them up with the soil, or perhaps they had shifted their quarters during the night; I did not find more than two or three in the same clump. In about an hour we dug up between 60 and 70 larvæ from two or three rows of corn, they varied in size from 5 lines long and 1 line thick to 17 lines long and 3 lines broad, but were generally about 8 lines long. The pumpkins sown amongst the Indian corn had not been touched by them. Besides the " Cutworms" I found two or three "Wireworms," the larvæ of a coleopterous insect of the genus Elater, which were eating the seeds and stalks of the young corn under ground. We next inspected a patch of oats, 8 arpents in extent, in the same field, separated, however, from the Indian corn by a deep but grassy ditch; it had also just been resown; at a distance, large irregular patches of the field appeared quite bare, and on looking at them closer we perceived that in these spots almost every plant had been killed, and we found at their roots a good many of the same larvæ as those destroying the maize; they were not however so numerous as in the latter. They were first noticed among the oats about the 25th May, when the Indian corn was not up, I am therefore inclined to think they deserted the oats for the corn as soon as it came up; the infected plants presented the same appearance as those of the corn, except that they were whiter and more sickly looking, most having quite dried up. At the side of the field where a dung heap had stood, the oats were very luxuriant, and at a little distance did not appear attacked by the "worm," but on closer examination we found many at work at these also, and of rather a larger size than elsewhere; I found one or two dipterous larvæ at the roots of the oats but whether eating them or not I could not determine. I noticed Calosoma calidum running across the field, and I have no doubt this fine beetle, both in its perfect and larval states, is extremely beneficial in destroying the Cutworms, and also the larvæ of that pest, the common Apple Moth, (Clisiocampa Americana). It may sometimes be seen running up trees in search of the latter. A specimen I enclosed in a small box with some Cutworms soon demolished them. It is much to be regretted that a prejudice exists against this useful insect, and that many persons make it a practice to crush all they see; and as this species is constantly running about in the daytime, great numbers must be destroyed in this manner; I frequently see them lying crushed on the pathways round Montreal, and I never pass one of these unfortunate victims to popular delusion without feeling a pang of regret that it should have met with such an unscientific fate. But by far the greatest enemy of the "Cutworm " is a long black larva, somewhat flat and linear in shape, and most probably also Carabidous, which I found rather numerous amongst the oats, concealing itself under the lumps of earth, and rapidly burying itself if disturbed; the largest was about one inch and 3 lines long, but most were only 7 lines in length; I found one which had just been engaged in sucking out the juices of an unlucky Cutworm, of which it had left nothing but the shriveled skin; a single specimen confined with several Cutworms and a larva of Clisiocampa, destroyed them all in the night, and became enormously distended, having swollen to about twice its natural size, which however it regained by the next day. I find by experience that one of these larvæ takes about an hour and a half to finish a single Cutworm, passing it gradually between its jaws till all its |