Page:Hardwicke's Science-Gossip - Volume 1.pdf/82

Insects Feeding on Ferns.—H. M., in a paper on "The Preservative Power of Ferns," which appeared in the February number of Science-Gossip, says, "I cannot now recall to my recollection ever having seen the larvæ of any lepidopterous insect feeding upon the fronds of our common ferns, nor do I remember having noticed insects of any orders resting upon them, unless it were for shelter during rain." I beg to inform the said writer, and any who may feel an interest in the subject, that, having a small garden in the heart of Cheltenham, I have planted ferns along one sheltered and shady side of it, and for the last two summers the larvæ of the great tiger-moth (Arctia caja) has been a perfect pest. When I first observed my bunches of lady-fern (Athyrium filix fæmina) had been attacked by an insect, I examined each closely without detecting the intruder. I then gave the plants a shake, and two or three of the little hairy caterpillars fell to the ground. Having for many years reared the various species, lepidoptera, diurnal and nocturnal, I was pretty sure I knew this furry little gentleman; but accustomed to prove things for the satisfaction of others, as well as myself, I put two of them in a box, covering it with green gauze, and giving it a supply of food, not of my Athyrium though, but of the common plantain (P. major), where I regularly fed it till its change came, and when from its pupa sleep it evolved into the imago. Behold, I was right, Arctia caja displayed its gorgeous wings. But in the meantime, what of my ferns? A few days after having caught the first spoilers, I went to look at my ferns again, and to my consternation the Athyriums, which had been looking lovely only a week before, were completely eaten bare to the midrib, or rachis and secondary rachids, scarcely a bit of the soft part of the fronds remained, and on the little that was left, the "woolly bears" were sedulously at work. I then observed some fine specimens of filix-mas had been attacked and half demolished, also some of the other Lastreas, especially L. æmula and dilatata, the latter the last (Osmunda regalis), and had entirely destroyed one or two fronds before I observed their depradations in that quarter. Morning by morning myself and a servant used to go out, and take from 25 to 30 sometimes off one plant, which, unwilling as I am to destroy life, I was obliged to suffer to be crushed, their numbers were so prodigious. What I have above related took place last summer, and the summer before the last, namely, in 1864 and in 1863. When the Athyrium, the Lastreas, and Osmunda fail, these animals are not too dainty to put up with Polystichum lobatum, but they prey upon that only when they can get nothing more tender.—M. G. C.

Artaxerxes Butterfly (Polyommatus Artaxerxes).—On the 17th of August last, I obtained seven specimens of this butterfly, with other species, on the drift sandhills at New Brighton, near Liverpool, and have every reason to suppose that they will be as plentiful this coming season.—John W. Love.

The Hive-Bee and its Sting.—I have recently met with a statement to the effect that the use of the sting is always fatal to the hive-bee. How does this accord with the generally received fact that when there are two rival queens, the one is killed by the sting of the other, who becomes monarch of the hive? On the above hypothesis, the contest ought to be equally fatal to both.—W. H. G.

Crickets and Cockroaches.—In allusion to Mr. Ranson's observations (see p. 42), the editor of The Entomologist, in No. 11, states:—"Mr. Ranson is not the first to propose the patronizing of crickets on accound of their presumed tendency to extirpate, or at least to drive away, the cockroaches; regarded as hypothetical the idea is excellent, but reduced to practice it is scarecely so satisfactory: my own experience is that the two creatures live together in exuberant abundance, and in the most sociable communion, in the kitchen of—Edward Newman." With this extract our own experience harmonizes. A correspondent gives the following reason in favour of Mr. Ranson's hypothesis:—"Often have I caught a cockroach and placed it by the hole of a cricket, and have not had to wait long before a cricket (sometimes half the size of the cockroach) would make his appearance, and carry it away, and as I supposed to eat it; but to make sure of that, I caught both a cricket and a cockroach, and put them together under a glass, where I left them for a day. Upon paying them a visit there was only the cricket and a few bits of the cockroach. From that time I have not doubted whether the former eat the latter."—Charles Stanley Barnes. Another correspondent, H. D. C., recommends the importation of a hedgehog into the kitchen as the safest cure for the plague of cockroaches.

Alpine Rose (Rosa alpina, Des.) at Perth.—Dr. White recently announced that he had gathered this rose in the depths of the woods on Kinnoul Hill, near Perth, where it seems to have fairly established itself. This plant is not uncommon on the Continent.

A New Bristle-mould.—A fourth species of the genus Chætomium has been found in this country. This is C. murorum, Corda. It is one of the small fungi occurring on decaying straw, damp paper, &c. The perithecium is generally clothed with rigid bristles, and each looks like a small tuft of nearly black mould on the surface of the substance upon which it vegetates.

The Cobbler Botanist.—Mr. Richard Buxton, who nearly twenty years ago wrote a "Botanical Guide to the Flowering Plants, Ferns, Mosses, and Algæ found indigenous within eighteen miles of Manchester," died on the 2nd January, in the 81st year of his age. "When about twelve years of age," he says of himself, "I went to learn the trade of a bat-maker—that is, a maker of children's small leathern shoes. There I continued about a year and a half, and then went and worked with one James Hyde for several years. At this time I was quite unable to read, and therefore got a spelling-book to teach myself. I soon became master of it; and then proceeded to the New Testament, &c. I am well aware," he adds, "that the narrative of the life of a poor man like myself, who has had the greatest difficulty in procuring the necessities of life in a worn-out trade like that of a child's leather-shoe maker, and in delivering a few newspapers on a Saturday, is anything but interesting." In this assertion he is mistaken; there is great interest in the history of a life devoted, under severe difficulties, to the pursuit of science, and honourably closed at last. Peace to thy manes, O Buxton! for what thou hast contributed to the feet of children and the heads of men.