Montana Agricultural College Experiment Station. F. B. LINFIELD, Director BULLETIN NO. 79 SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT of the State entomologist of Montana. BY R. A. COOLEY BOZEMAN. MONTANA FEBRUARY 1910 sniEPUBLicaTKWscou;.-- OCT 3 12007 MONTANA STATE LI8RARV HELENA, MONTANA Ej-^n Montana State Library 111 nil in ill ii mi 111 ..-JIlllllllllllllil 3 0864 1004 0620 9 Montana Agricultural College Experiment Station. F. B. LINFIELD. Director BULLETIN NO. 79 SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT of the State Entomologist of Montana. BY R. A. COOLEY BOZEMAN, MONTANA FEBRUARY 1910 Montana Agricultural College Experiment Station. BOZEMAN, MONTANA. Helena Missoula Butte Helena Bozeman Great Falls Dillon Lewistown Helena Bozeman Bozeman Bozeman Bozeman STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION Edwin L. Norkis, Governor ) A. J. Galen, Attorney General v Ex-Offlcio \V. E. Harmon, Sup't Public Instruction \ J M. Evans C. K. Leonard O. W. McConnell 0. P. Chisholm S. D. Largent G. T. Paul Roy C. Ayres Charles R. Kessler executive board James M. Hamilton, President J H. Baker, Vice-President .... Walter S. Hartman, .... Geo. Cox, Secretary and Treasurer . STATION STAFF F. B. Linfield, B. S. A., Director. R. A. Cooley, B. Sc, Entomologist Alfred Atkinson, B. S. A., Agronomist Robert W. Clark, P>. S. A., Animal Industry. Edmund Burke, B. S., Chemist Deane B. Swingle, M.S., Botanist and Bacteriologist. O. B. Whipple, B. S. Horticulturist. W. |. Taylor, D. V. M., Veterinarian J B. Nelson, Superintendent Dry Farm Work. Reuben M. Pinckney, B. S., A. M., Assistant Chemist. L. F. Gieseker, B. S,, Assistant Agronomist. Wm. F. Schoppe, B. S , Assistant Poultryman. W. W. Spain, B. S., Assistant Dry Farming. H. E. Morris, B. S. Assistant Botanist. H. P. Griffin, B. S., Assistant Animal Industry. R, C. Jones'b. s., Assistant Dairyman. N. B. Lundwall, Clerk. Post Office, Express and Freight Station, Bozeman. All communications to the Experiment Station should be addressed to THE MONTANA EXPERIMENT STATION, Bozeman, Montana NOTICE/ — The Bulletins of the Experiment Station will be mailed free to any citizen of Montana on request. Please state whether all publications are desired as issued or only those specified. Give name and address plainly. LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. To His Excellency, Edwin L. Norris, Governor of Montana. Dear Sir : — I have the honor to present herewith my Seventh Annual Report as State Entomologist of Montana. It will be noticed that this report is briefer than those previously made, and I would res- pectfully call your attention to the reasons for this, stated under "Policy Regarding Publications.' Very respectfully, R. A. COOLEY. 52 MONTANA EXPERIMENT STATION SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT of the State Entomologist of Montana. ENTOMOLOGICAL FEATURES OF THE YEAR. Every farmer and fruit grower has observed that no two seasons are alike with respect to tbeHnsert^pests that he is called upon to combat on his crops. Obeying more or less definite laws, each pest has its "ups and downs," or alternating periods of comparative abundance and scarcity. Some are with us in greater or less abun- dance each year and should be treated for practically every season, while others come into prominence only occasionally. With respect to variety of insect pests and extent of depreda- tions, the past season was an average one. There were no con- spicuous outbreaks of pests. For purposes of record it seems desirable to list the prominent insect depredators of the year, with comments on each. It is onr intention to continue this practice each year in the future, thus making a consecutive record of annual entomological features. Green fruit worm (Xylina sp.) — During the last three or four years this insect has been seen frequently in the Bitter Root valley and our records show that it occurs throughout Montana. It is not a very injurious species but often attracts the attention of orchardists and leads to inquiries being sent to the Experiment Station. In recent years it lias been of particular interest because of the fact that the peculiar corky growth on the apples, induced by the attack of the larvae on the very young apples, has been mis- taken for apple scab. The work of the yonng larvae early in the season is liable to be confused with that of the eye-spotted bud moth. The tussock moth (Notolophus j/ri Xal.) — State Horticultural Inspector M. L. Dean has called our attention to the occurrence of this pest in certain orchards near Victor during the past season. It occurs at that place both on apple and mountain ash. The onion maggot (Phorbia ceparum Meigen.) — Maggots in young onions sent in from Great Falls and reared to the adult con- dition are of this species. Onions are not an important crop in Montana and this insect has not attracted much attention. The Bronze apple tree borer (Magdalis aenescens LeC.) — This species appears to be well established in the Bitter Root valley but has not been very injurious. It was first found in Montana several years ago on the orchard of Mr. Bandman near Missoula. It has since been found at points in the Bitter Root valley. Scale on Mountain Ash (Aspidiotus sp.) — We have specimens of this insect found on mountain ash from Billings and Missoula. In both cities it became very abundant on individual trees. It has not spread to apple trees. MONTANA EXPERIMENT STATION REPORTED INJURIES TO FOREST TREES. Late in the winter or early in the spring or 1909 extensive areas oi Forests in the mountains in Montana showed plain indications of injury to the foliage. Two trips on horseback were made into the mountains for the purpose of determining whether or not insects were in any measure responsible for the injuries. Professor I). B. Swingle, Botanist and Bacteriologist to the Experiment Station, also examined the trees to determine if the trouble was due to veg- etable organisms. We were unable to obtain evidence that insects, fungi or bacteria were concerned in the difficulty. We believed that the killing of the foliage on the pines and firs was due to weather conditions. Quite independent of this difficulty, certain forest insects caused some injur}' in restricted areas. PUBLICATIONS AND PUBLIC ADDRESSES. The principal publications and addresses of the year, not in- cluding some short newspaper articles, are the following: "Notes on the Ten-lined Potato Beetle in Montana," a paper given at the annual meeting of the American Association of Econ- omic Entomologists at Boston, December, 1909, and to be publish- ed in the Journal of Economic Entomology. "Notes on Spraying Experiments for the Oyster Shell Scale in Montana," a paper read at the annual meeting of the Annerican Association of Economic Entomologists in Boston, December, 1909, and published in the Journal of Economic Entomology. "Insect Life," a paper of six thousand five hundred words read before the Great Falls high school, November, 1909. "Insects in Relation to the Spread of Human Disease," an ad- dress delivered before the Billings, Big Timber, StevensvUle, Fori Bienton and Havre high schools. "Photomicography of the Diaspinae," a paper read before the December (1908) meeting of the American Association of Economic Entomologists, held at Baltimore, Md., and printed in the Journal of Economic Entomology, April, 1909. "Seventh Annual Report of the State Entomologist of Mon- tana," the present report. SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 55 POLICY REGARDING PUBLICATIONS. The state law providing for the office of State Entomologist requires that the entomologist shall make an annual report to the Governor, which report shall he published by the Experiment Station as one of its regular bulletins and "shall contain a report of his work and expenditures under this act." The salary ci the ento- mologist is paid from federal funds by the Experiment Station and since the enactment of the state entomologist law the entomologist of the Experiment Station has been placed on the Adams salary roll and is occupied largely with research work. This has prevented the accumulation of such material as was published in the first re- ports of the state entomologist and has caused a general change in the policy regarding publications. The activities of the station and state entomologist fall natur- ally under two heads, which we m/ay term (a) practical and (b) scientific. It is expected of the entomologist that he shall at all times hold himself in readiness to give information regarding the practical treatment of insect pests of all kinds, and that in times of insect outbreaks he shall publish or make demonstrations of the best remedies to be employed. With no less practical ultimate ends in view he is expected to search out the information necessarily obtained before pests can be intelligently fought. In connection with such research work, valuable technical information is received which may be of no present interest to the practical farmer or fruit grower. The Adams act, in unmistakable language, requires that work done under its rules shall be of a fundamental nature, and that the problems attacked be new ones. It is plain, therefore, that we are required to issue two kinds of publications, viz., those for the practical man and those of inter- est only to the scientist. We have long realized that such a distinction was desirable and some Experiment Stations in the United States have for years been issuing two series of bulletins. Our experience during the past few years in Montana has emphasized the desirability of mak- ing a much more definite distinction between the publications in- tended for the busy farmer's use and those intended to give the results of research. We are satisfied that much valuable practical 56 MONTANA EXPERIMENT STATION information has been buried so deeply in publications which were intended to both aid the farmer and also give, with necessary com- pleteness, the findings of the investigator, that it has escaped the notice of the farmers. The publications of the entomologist will in the future be pre- pared with due regard for the purpose for which they are intended and will usually fall under the following headings: (a) Circulars, or brief treatises, each dealing with a particular subject. Because of their brevity they can be prepared and printed quickly and so may be used in emergencies, and because of their small size they may be folded and sent in letters, thus giving the information in better form than is possible in the space of a letter. (b) Bulletins, or more extended and formal publications covering ieach a single subject or a group of related subjects. (c) Journal articles, or occasional papers published in the en- tomological journals of the country. The subject matter covered in these articles will be such that its publication should not be de- layed. (d) Executive reports to the Governor. Such reports as the present one are of interest only to executive officers and members of the legislature. SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 57 FINANCIAL STATEMENT 1909 March R. A. Cooley, trip to Hamilton, Lo Lo, Plains and Thompson Falls $ 18.00 April Stamps 6.00 R. A. Cooley, trip to Lo Lo 7.85 D. B. Swingle, traveling expenses 23 . 1 5 May R. A. Cooley, trip to Missoula I3-7Q Telephone tolls 1.35 Westfall-Casey Co., supplies .75 Stamps 2 . 00 D. D. Smith, supplies 5 . 25 Gallatin Drug Co., supplies 4.25 Westfall-Casey Co., supplies 5.45 Whitall Tatum Co., supplies 2.64 A. P. Curtin Book & Stationery Co., Supplies 7.00 S. G. Phillips, supplies 4.30 Journal of Economic Entomology 2.00 Carnegie Institution of Washington 3.75 Entomological News 1 .00 New York Entomological Society 2.00 P. Blakiston's Son & Co 7.64 Annals of the Entomological Society of America 3°o F. S. Webster Co., s applies 3 . 50 Stamps 5-°o Bell Telephone Co 3 °° R. A. Cooley, trip to Missoula 13 -3° R. A. Cooley, trip to Livingston 2.15 June R. A. Cooley, trip to Missoula 14 -7° R. A. Cooley, trip to Lo Lo . . . 7-7° Stamps 5-Oo Fred Cook, labor 1 • I5 Edna Bull, labor 2.50 Oswald Weigel, books 12.80 John Bale Sons & Danielsson 4-65 Express I-I5 D. B. Swingle, traveling expenses 22.30 R. A. Cooley, trip to Lo Lo 15 -IO 58 MONTANA EXPERIMENT STATION \\. A. Cooley, trip to Lo Lo July R. A. Cooley, trip to Corvallis Freight and Express Canadian Entomologist Alary L. Haskins, typewriting Joe Morgan, labor Willard V. King, labor The Willson Co., supplies Gallatin Drug Co., supplies Westfall-Casey Co., supplies John M. Peets, supplies S. G. Phillips, supplies George A. Cooley, labor Duty on Theobald's "Insects of Fruits".... Edna Bull, labor Telephone tolls October R. A. Cooley, trip to Ravalli and Lo Lo December Weis Manufacturing Co., supplies Sylvef J. White, labor 1910 February R. A. Cooley, trip to Helena John G. Showell, livery and supplies Roy Bishop, maps Genera Insectorum Entomological Society of Ontario Alary L. Haskins, typewriting * Edna J. Cooper, typewriting Dodds Kieth, care of guinea pigs March Journal of Economic Entomology A\ . J. Fransham, livery R. A. Cooley, trip to Plains Dodds Kieth, care of guinea pigs Total expenditure $ 499.99