56
Kansas University Weekly.
Science Notes.
During the past summer Prof. Haworth made a large series of photographs of Kansas geological formations, and irrigational subjects They will be used for illustrating the next report of the University Geological Survey.
Examinations of the area beneath Elm trees reveal a number of small branches lying on the ground. This is the work of the Elm-twig girdler (Oncideres singulata), a beetle belonging to the Cerambycidae family. This beetle deposits a number of eggs upon a branch, and then girdles the branch in such a manner as to cause it to fall to the ground. The eggs are deposited in minute incisions in the wood immediately below a small twig and also, although not so frequently, just above the base of a branch. It is probable that the limb is girdled in order that by falling to the ground it may become moist and decay readily, thus making the wood soft and more easily worked. This species attacks several other forest trees as well as the Elm. Mr. Percy Parrott is making a special study of this Twiggirdler in the Entomological Department.
An interesting sight was a mass of butterflies on the large cottonwood tree between Snow Hall and the Main Building last Saturday. There were several thousand of the insects gathered on the upper branches; and when disturbed by a boy who ascended the tree, they scattered in the air like autumn leaves. A large number were collected for class use in the entomological laboratory. This species, commonly called Milk-weed Butterfly (Anosia plexippus, Linn.) is the most common of our butterflies, and the habit of migrating in immense swarms is not unusual. Several years ago the writer observed a large drove flying over Garden City, Kansas. The drove was being carried in a southeasterly direction by a strong wind. It was from ten to twenty feet in diameter and not less than a quarter of a mile in length. There must have been several millions of insects in the swarm. Similar occurrences have been reported from various parts of Kansas, Nebraska, and Texas.
Prof. Haworth has moved a part of his department into the basement room on the west side of the Main Building. He will have his private office and a drafting room there and the old department in Snow Hall will be used wholly as a laboratory.
An instrument for cutting mats for lantern slides has been invented by Mr. E. S. Tucker. The mats may be cut any desired shape and size by this means; and the invention is a valuable one in that slides may be made much more quickly and neatly than by any of the old methods. The idea is original with Mr. Tucker and was put in form by Mr. M. B. Watson.
A nest of a Hawk showing a departure from the usual Hawk architecture was found by an egg collector several years ago. Nearly all species of the falconidal when building a nest first construct a platform of large sticks and weeds as a foundation for the lighter material of the nest proper. This is the rule whether the nest is placed in a tree or upon a cliff. The nest mentioned, one of a Swainson's Hawk. (Buteo Swainson's) was not built in this manner and is the only exception observed in a considerable number examined. It was placed upon a knoll some what higher than the surrounding bluffs. Rocks from six to eight inches in diameter were arranged in a circle. The enclosed space was filled with rocks gradually decreasing in size to the center of the structure, forming a basin-shaped platform. The basin was lined with small weeds and grasses, altogether composing a very unique piece of bird workmanship.
Wanted: Corn-pith in exchange. New or old students who have not yet obtained The Lawrence Memorial Album, which contains seventy pages of pictures and historical notes of Lawrence, past and present, now have a limited opportunity to earn a copy, worth 25 cts., by furnishing one peck of peeled corn-pith to the author, E.S.Tucker, at Snow Hall. Copies on sale at Students' Supply Store, Main Building at 25 cts. each.