. The American entomologist. Entomology. THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. "5 THE ROSE-SLUG. (Sc/aitJria rosu Harris.) The main points in the history of tliis well-known garden pest are given by Harris in his "Insects Injurious to Vegetation," etc. It undoubtedly originated in New England, probably upon Rosa lucida or R. blanda, as these are the species of wild Rose upon which it preferably feeds. Dr. Harris first observed it in the gardens of Cambridge, Mass., in 1831, and mentions that it was six or seven years before it made its appearance in Milton, where he then resided. So far as
. The American entomologist. Entomology. THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. "5 THE ROSE-SLUG. (Sc/aitJria rosu Harris.) The main points in the history of tliis well-known garden pest are given by Harris in his "Insects Injurious to Vegetation," etc. It undoubtedly originated in New England, probably upon Rosa lucida or R. blanda, as these are the species of wild Rose upon which it preferably feeds. Dr. Harris first observed it in the gardens of Cambridge, Mass., in 1831, and mentions that it was six or seven years before it made its appearance in Milton, where he then resided. So far as can be ascertained [Fig. 42.]. Selandria : (i, egg, natural size; /', do. enlarged ; c, slug and its work, natural size, ; </, do. enlarged (after Riley). it is not indigenous to any of the States west of the Alleghanies. It has, however, been abundantly disseminated over these States by means of rose bushes imported from eastern nurseries. As it spreads very slowly on the tvitig, had our nurserymen and florists understood its habits and taken the precautions which such knowledge would have suggested, our western gardens might long have enjoyed immunity from its ravages. Since Harris's descriptions may not be accessible to all our readers we will briefly recapitulate the more important facts. The small, sluggish, black flies (Fig. 43, a) emerge from the ground about the time that the roses are in full leaf, and within a few days there- after begin depositing their eggs. The pro- cess of oviposition and the appearance of the newly-hatched slug are thus described byMiss M. E. Murtfeldt in an article con- tributed to the November number of the Gardeners' Monthly: — "With their saw- like ovipositors the female flies pierce the edges of the leaves and force their eggs singly, towards tlie tip of the serrations, beneath the cuticle on the under surface. The egg is circular, about one-twentieth of an inch in diameter, and so flat at first as to be imperceptible except
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