Historic, archived document Do not assume content reflects current scientific knowledge, policies, or practices. AGRICULTURE. DIVISION OF ENTOMOLOGY. September, 1894, to July, 1895. %, sole a Q INSECT LIFE.@ % %, og ie 725) ae Vee fl i C % DEVOTED TO THE ECONOMY AND LIFE HABITS OF INSECTS, ESPECIALLY IN THEIR RELATIONS TO AGRICULTURE. EDITED BY L. O. HOWARD, Entomologist, WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF OTHER MEMBERS OF THE DIVISIONAL FORCE. (PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE»? WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1895. Bt i 4 PEAT Osh ioian ty aor TAGLE OP CONTENTS. CONTENTS OF No. 1. THE CRANBFRRY GIRDLER (Crambus topiarius Zell.) (illustrated) ........... ees ee eee eee oe nS eo Se emeL HH, Scudder_. Two PARASITES OF IMPORTANT SCALE-INSECTS (illustrated)-..L. O. Howard.-. THE BUFFALO TREE-HOPPER ( Ceresa bubalus Fab.) (illustrated).C. LZ. Marlatt-. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES ON THE STRAWBERRY WEEVIL, ITS HABITS AND RuMIMNSEERP ETE fae Sh es ee goa a Son bees ed efaiebe F. H. Chittenden. - OCCURRENCE OF THE HEN-FLEA (Sarcopsylla gallinacea Westw.) IN FLORIDA (0 EP) ee eng Sh al ee a ree ae eee. 4. S. Packard.. NoTES ON COTTON INSECTS FOUND IN Mississippi. -.-.. William H. Ashmead.-.- On A LECANIUM INFESTING BLACKBERRY, CONSIDERED IDENTICAL WITH ag) a ae See ee eae T. D. A. Cockerell.- INSECTS INJURING DRUGS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS. Vernon L. Kellogg..- fut, panses, oF Ingsreers (illustrated) =-.--.=/-.:. 2... -2--5----- C. V. Riley.- POI weet OU Pes OTRETIR 220 02 ook oe on eon isn Lawrence Bruner... a ADI SERCIES OF COCCIDA. 7... 25. nsene -----e T. D. A. Cockerell-. AN ABNORMAL TIGER SWALLOW-TAIL (illustrated) -...--..---- L. O. Howard. - “SU a a Se ie ee ee ee A new Apple-tree Enemy—The Black Australian Ladybird—The Grape- vine Root-worm—An Invasion of the ‘‘ Feathered Gothic” Moth in Northern France—Taxonomic Value of the Scales of Lepidoptera— Death Web of young Trout— Pollinia coste in California—A Prediction Verified—The Leaf-footed Bug Attacking Plums—Is Icerya an Austra- lian Genus?—Is the Azalea Scale Indigenous?—A Swarm of Winged Ants—The Cottonwood Leat-beetle—Resin Wash against the Grape Aspidiotus. NOTES FROM CORRESPONDENCE...--.--.----- - SOE Be RS Pe CONTENTS OF No. 2. Sixth Annual Meeting of the Association of Economic Entomologists: A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE RISE AND PRESENT CONDITION OF OFFICIAL Pasemte Ee NTOMOTOGY > 22 ae sce eek L. O. Howard.-. BISULPHIDE OF CARBON AS AN INSECTICIDE..._-......----- J. B. Smith-- REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON COOPERATION AMONG STATION ENTOMOLO- ST Sn BS BSS ee SSE ee ae ee ie ae ee Ee een SPRAYING WITHOUT A PUMP—PRELIMINARY NOTICE .....J. M. Aldrich... be Ce UGE ET ia PD) a rr re a ee C. L. Marlatt.. SOME OBSERVATIONS ON NEW AND OLD INSECTICIDES AND THEIR CoM- DIAC Were HURGICIDES =>. ou 222-5) 2 2a eet es B. T. Galloway. - SPRAYING WirH ARSENITES Vs. BEES -.....-.-.-=-< ee ee ee ee L. O. Howard... 379 DIPTEROUS LEAF-MINERS ON GARDEN VEGETABLES (illustrated)...........-.. 1 SoM lS eis Se Pe ee ee eee D.W. Coquillett.. 381 SoME COLEOPTEROUS ENEMIES OF THE GRAPE-VINE..--....F. H. Chittenden... 384 THE CURRANT STEM-GIRDLER (Phyllecus fiaviventris Fitch) (illustrated)-..... oot GL Sa ee See ee eee C.L. Marlatt... 387 OBSERVATIONS ON CERTAIN THRIPIDZ -...-..-..-------20----- Th. Pergande.. 390 AN IMPORTED LIBRARY PEsT (illustrated) .-..---.--..---.-- E. A. Schwarz... 396 Two DirTEROUS INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CULTIVATED FLOWERS (illustrated) -. ie ee SE a = ee ee D. W. Coquillett.. 399 = INIURIOUS PARASITE (illustrated) _....:-..------------ .-L. O. Howard.. 402 THE HORSE-RADISH FLEA-BEETLE (Phyllotreta armoracie Koch) (illustrated) -- 2 eee ee ee ee FH. Chittenden... 404 A NEw WuHeEatT PEstT (Sciara tritici n. sp.) (illustrated).....D. W. Coquillett.. 406 LED UES ey ee ere ere C. L. Marlatt.. 408 EE ee eee ee er eee All The Classification of Lepidoptera—A Secondary Effect of the Florida Freeze—Spraying on a Large Scale—Animal Life in Thermal Springs— Apparent Success of one of the Hessian Fly Parasite Importations— Cutworms and the Army-worm Habit—The Mediterranean Flour Moth in New York—Apples and the Codling Moth in Australia—The Grave-digger Wasp and its Parasites—Migration of the Great Plains Cricket—The Chicken ick (Argas americanus Pack).—Some Changes in Nomenclature—A New Furniture Pest—The Home of the Chinch Bug—Transmission of Infection by Flies—A Remedy against Fleas— A New Manual of Entomology—An Instance of Intelligence in Ants— Cicada Chimneys—A Horn-fly Trap—The Buffalo Gnat—A Newly- imported Scale Insect—How Hemiptera Feed—Birds and Bark-lice— Staining the Wings of Insects. PDEA ir MMC OUMENEONUMNGE.. 5056 20-8 ooo oe os one sn ons cowie w ees wetnas -+ sane 428 18391—No. 5——7 iS ee iW i a en a ie rd ar’ on tals Mec [Vol vi. No. 1.] INSECT LIFE [Issued Seen 1894. ] THE CRANBERRY GIRDLER (Crambus topiarius Zell.) By SAMUEL H. SCUDDER, Cambridge, Mass. Late in June of last year my attention was called by Mr. G. BR. Briggs, | of Plymouth, Mass., to the injury done by some insect to cranberry meadows under bis care. He suspected that certain moths then flying -insome numbers over the bogs mght be connected with it. I visited the plautation on July 3 and September 23 and again this year on July Fie. 1.—Crambus topiarius: a, egg, with summit much enlarged: b, mature larva; c, one of the abdominal segments of larva; d, chrysalis; e, nest of young larva in grass; f, imago—all enlarged. (a and e after Felt; other figs. original.) 18. On the first visit a number of moths were taken, nearly all of one species, which was later determined for me by Prof. C. H. Fernald as Crambus topiarius Zell. All the specimens of the moth then brought home alive for breeding proved to be males, but on my visit this year I procured some females, which readily and at once laid in confinement. 1 2 It seemed at first improbable that the Crambus could be the cause of | the mischief, as the species of this genus, so far as I was aware, were known to feed only on Graminez and particularly on common grasses. Mr. Felt has lately found that some of them, including this species, will feed also on Rumex, though all apparently prefer grasses. On my visit last autumn I was better able to examine the nature and extent of the injuries caused by the larva and to obtain specimens nearly or quite mature. The precise depredators had been readily found by Mr. Briggs and the men in his employ at work about the running portion of the plants extending along the surface of sand in the stratum of fallen leaves which always covers an old cranberry bog, and from which the delicate clusters of new rootlets take their rise; square rods of the meadow were scorched as by fire, in some places a half acre or more, and everywhere, but especially along the borders of the portions of the fields attacked, the larve could be found in filmy silken galleries following the prostrate stems or runners, into the surface of which they had | everywhere eaten their way, destroying the vital part of the plant and | often, especially next the base of the runners, deeply girdling the stems. Besides collecting a number of the largest larve and taking them home to rear, a large sod containing others was transported to Cam- bridge and placed in a favorable position for their hibernation. By cursory examination from time to time it was proved that the larve formed their coarse cocoons of mingled sand and silk just at the surface of the ground late in the autumn (about November), remained in the same stage within the cocoons until the latter part of May or early June, when they changed to chrysalis, and after about a month reap- peared as moths, when their identity with the supposed culprit flying at large over the bogs in the first days of July was proved. The cages were kept in acellar until the moths appeared, all of which were males, and came out July 6 and 7. This would appear to be the normal habit of life of this creature on the Plymouth cranberry bogs, and the record of Mr. Felt shows the moths flying at Ithaca, N. Y., in July only. But Prof. John B. Smith states that he has taken the moths on cranberry bogs in Ocean County, N.J., in May, and Mr. Briggs tells me that some vines which were green immediately after the spring plowing died before the month of July, apparently from the attacks of the same insect, as if caterpillars whieh had passed the winter fed again in the spring before pupation; so it may be that there is some considerable time variation in the maturity of the larva. Mr. Felt also states that ‘in the spring the larvie com- plete their growth.” The damage done at Plymouth was considerable; great patches of scorched vines could be seen, sometimes a half acre in extent, in which not only the year’s crop had failed but the plants were almost entirely destroyed; and considerable areas were seen where the damage of pre- vious years had compelled replanting. There was this, however, to be 3) said: The damage was local and by no means universal, and a localized pest is more easily combated than one which appears everywhere. Some meadows were entirely free, though for no apparent reason. On inquiry I could not find that there was any relation whatever between the affected fields and the vicinity of grass land where the Crambus might also live. At the time I first visited the spot, Mr. Briggs, thinking it probable that the moth then flying was at the root of the trouble, had lighted torches on the affected bogs, but an examination of the tarred stand- ards on which they were placed did not indicate that they had been very effective; at that time, however, to judge from those captured, only males were flying. Mr. Felt’s observations on those captured in Ithaca in trap lanterns (Bull. 64 Corn. Univ. Agr. Exp. Station) show only fifty-nine captured in thirteen nights between July 5 and 28, of which only eight were females. This mode of attacking, therefore, does not appear very hopeful. Experiments made by Mr. Briggs showed that the larve would bear submergence in water in the autumn for more than four days withont death, and, therefore, no flooding that would not injure the crop could be undertaken at the period of their greatest ravages. That the win- tering caterpillar within its cocoon can eudure any amount of submer- gence is proved by the fact that the flooding of a bog for the entire win- ter does not destroy the pest upon that bog. It would, however, appear probable that as the larve do not go into cocoons until close to, or in, November, and as, by Mr. Briggs’ experiments in submerging the bog directly after picking the crop, larvee were found quite destroyed after five days’ immersion, the best means of attacking the insect would be to pick the crop from affected bogs at the earliest time possible, say very early in October at the latest, and immediately to flood the bog for a full fortnight. As a preventive against any serious outbreak it would be well, wherever the insect has been known to do any damage, to flood all bogs for a week sometime in October. In this way it would seem as if at no time would a crop be likely to suffer any serious dam- age from this insect. A further way, suggested to me by Mr. Briggs, would be, late in autumn or early in spring, preferably in the former, to thoroughly burn over all territory which had actually been destroyed by the insect, a work which the litter of dead leaves would render simple and efticacious. Mr. Briggs has already tried this with success, and has also met with some success in autumn flooding, although he has only tried it for a week or less. A fortnight would hardly injure the plants and would be more surely efficacious. To render this account more complete we append the few remarks upon it made by Mr. Felt in his recent account of this insect (/. ¢., pp. 75, 76): The species is very prolific; one female laid seven hundred eggs, three hundred being laid the first day. This is undoubtedly above the average. The eggs hatch = in about ten days. The young larve are very active and strong; they soon begin to | construct the typical cylindrical nest (see e, copied from Felt), composed of” web and an outer layer of bits of dry grass. The bits of grass are cut with great regu- larity, being about 2™™ by 75™™. In these nests the larve retire when not feeding. The lary feed upon the common grasses. Some were observed.to eat considerable sheep sorrel (Rumex acetosella). The larve feed mostly at night, and occasionally a blade of grass was cut off and the end drawn into a nest. As cold weather came on the larve became more dormant, thenests were made thicker, and finally in Novem- ber the tops of the nests were closed. The winter is passed in the iarva state. In the spring the larve complete their growth and then transform, and emerge in July. The following are descriptions of the insect in its several stages, so far as yet known: Imago (f): Fore-wings above of a pale straw color, growing pale buff apically heavily marked with blackish fuscous of varying shades and with silver; the latter is mostly confined to two subapical cross-bands, the upper half of the inner and the whole of the outer oblique, the inner bent just above the middle and crossing the entire wing (excepting that it fails to reach the costal margin above), the lower half at nearly right angles to the upper half and subparallel to the outer margin; the inner band is bordered interiorly with brown which extends to the costal margin; a broad stripeof silvery gray tapering apically follows the subcostal vein to the end of the cell and four fuscous longitudinal stripes reach nearly or quite to the inner sil- very band, the uppermost more or less mingled with buff following the costal edge for nearly a third its length and then running a little obliquely across the upper extremity of the cell, the next tinged with silver so as to become pearl gray extend- ing along the middle of the cell; the other two follow the median and submedian nervures; three other short longitudinal fuscous lines, much overlaid and concealed by silver, follow the nervules beyond the cell, while a supplementary brownish and oblique line intervenes between the oblique portion of the costal stripe and the inner margining of the inner silvery band; the extreme outer margin of the wing has a black line on the upper half, and on the lower half at the nervule tips three or four black points; the fringeis silvery. Hind-wings uniform silvery gray, narrowly edged on the upper half of the outer border with pale brown, the fringe silvery white. Expanse of fore wings, ¢ 15™™; 9 17™™. Described from four bred males. Egg.—When first laid pellucid white, obovate, broadly rounded at both extremi- ties, but slightly more so at base than at summit, broadest barely below the mi Idle, 0.36™™ high and 0.8"™ broad, with about twenty-three straight and vertical ribs of slight elevation reaching to the dome of the summit, their interspaces crossed by finer, horizontal, raised cross-lines which traverse also the vertical ribs, giving them a beaded appearance, the surface thus broken up into quadrangular cells whose length (the width of the interspaces between the ribs) in the middle of the egg is 0.04"™, and whose height is scarcely 0.02™™", the surface itself very delicately shagreened. On the dome of the summit the surface is broken into polygonal cells which are about 0.04™™ in diameter below and grow smaller toward the apex. - The eggs were laid in confinement upon the stem of the cranberry. They hatched in seven days. The figure given by Felt, here copied (a), represents the egg as less regular than it should be, and the cross lines are not accurately drawn, a feature exaggerated in the copy. Larva (first stage).—Head diameter, 0.2™™; body diameter, 0.125™™; length, 0.99™™, General color, a smutty white; head, a little darker than the rest of the body. Scattered hairs occur on the head; numerous small dark-colored tubercles occur on the body, each bearing at least one hair. (Felt.) i) Larva (last stage) (b, c}.—Head shining luteo-castaneous, the ocellar field, labrum and clypeus black. Body pallid fuliginous, the harder parts glistening; dorsal shield of first thoracic segment Iuteous, inconspicuous; surface covered with longer or shorter crect bristles, which are very fine and taper to an exquisitely fine point; they are blackish at base, but beyond testaceous; the longer ones are nearly as long as the breadth of the body and are situated in lateral and infrastigmatal series; the shorter ones are hardly as long as the segments and are distributed on the sides of the body; there is also a serics intermediate in length and laterodorsal in position, situated in the middle of the larger anterior division of the segments, while the lateral series lies on the smaller posterior section; under surface and pro- legs pallid; legs pallid, the claws luteous. Length, 15™™. Chrysalis (d).—Nearly uniform, very pale honey yellow, more pallid beneath; the wings, excepting at base, with a very slight olivaceous tinge, all the thoracic and the first two abdominal segments, as well zs the wings and legs finely edged at the incisures with dark castaneous, darkest near the head; all the abdominal seg- ments are bordered posteriorly, at least on the dorsal surface, with pale testaceous; lips of spiracles fuscous; cremaster blackish or blackish fuscous. Length, 7.75™™; breadth, 2.25"™, ‘ TWO PARASITES OF IMPORTANT SCALE-INSECTS. By L. O. Howarpb. There is a destructive scale-insect known as Aspidiotus uve Comst. which infests the lower part of grape-vines, from the ground to the shoots of second year growth, and frequently clusters upon this portion of the vine under the rough outer bark in such numbers as to seriously affect its vitality. The species was originally described from Vevay, Ind., but has since been sent in to the Division on Entomology from Louisville, Ky., Kirkwood, Mo., and Lafayette, Ind., and has been found by Mr. Pergande and Mr. Lull, members of the office force, at Soldiers’ Home, D. C., and near Beltsville, Md. FG. 3.—Ablerus clisiocampe (Ashm.): female, greatly enlarged (original). funicle joints together, furnished with two minute papillar projections at tip; mesos- cutar parapsides clavate, but not broadening suddenly into a club; mesoscutellum transverse; abdomen semi-ovate; ovipositor extruded for more than half the length of abdomen. Wings short, narrow; marginal vein nearly as long as submarginal; stigmal long, slender, one-third length of marginal, squarely truncate at tip, extend- ing at avery slight angle into disk of wing; marginal vein with three principal _ bristles, submarginal with one; cilia of border of wings as with Prospalta; hind border of fore-wings with a longitudinal hairless streak and a slight fold extending from base of wing nearly to middle; thickening of anal margin opposite tip of mar- *” A3/npoc, nom. prop. 8 ginal vein of hind wings seems to extend forward into this fold; marginal vein of | hind-wings with closely set row of minute bristles. First tarsal joint of all legs as long as two succeeding joints together, Middle tibial spur as long as corresponding first tarsal joint. . Ablerus clisiocampe (Ashm.). ae Female.—Length, exciusive of ovipositor, 0.7™™; ovipositor, 0.18™™; expanse, 1.5'™™; greatest width of fore wing, 0.19™™. Hairs of anal spiracle nearly as long as ovi- positor. General color black, somewhat metallic, notal sclerites of thorax having a greenish luster, while abdomen appears bluish; antenne black, with funicle joints 2 | and 4 silvery white, and apical three-fourths of club light brown, with a somewhat — silvery tinge. Head in life, and shortly after the insect has issued, whitish, with occiput yellow-brown and occipital line black ; browu patch including ocelli. Eyes bright red. In dry mounts the head shrivels considerably and becomes light brown in color. Legs dark brown; all tibize with a silvery white distal apex. Spurs of © middle tibie black; tarsal joints 1, 2, and 5 dark brown or black; 3 and 4 whitish. Fore-wings with proximal three-fourths deepiy and uniformly infuscated, except two light longitudinal streaks near base; apical one-fourth hyaline; discal cilia very minute, but closely placed; sparse, however, towards distal anal portion and towards base of wing. Redescribed from ten freshly-issued females reared July 6 and 7, 1894, from female specimens of Chionaspis furfurus, District of Columbia. THE BUFFALO TREE-HOPPER (Ceresa bubalus Fab). By C.L. MARLATT. The adult of this little grass-green insect is one of the best known of the common species frequenting vegetation, and often attracts the curious on account of its triangular shape, quick, active flight, and con- siderable vaulting powers. It receives its peculiar popular name from a Supposed similarity in shape to the male buffalo or bison. The thorax, or pronotum, is greatly enlarged anteriorly, projecting laterally in two strong horns, and is distinetly triangular, as shown in the illustration (Fig. 4a). It is this peculiar shape rather than any knowledge of its habits that has given it its popular interest. During the last eight or ten years, however, it has become important on other and strictly economic grounds. In the Mississippi Valley, especially from the Mis- souri northwards, well up into Canada, it has been the cause of very. great damage in orchards, particularly to young trees and nursery stock, not, however, confining itself to fruit trees, but attacking also all sorts of shade trees. The injury is due solely to the cutting up of the limbs by the female with her saw-like ovipositor (Fig. 4. f, g) in the deposition of her eggs, in which particular the injury is not unlike that caused by the periodical cicada, and frequently is scarcely less in . amount on account of the great numbers in which the Ceresa occurs. On entering a badly infested orchard in the latter part of August, or in September, the buffaio tree-hopper will indicate its presence by flying 4 away with a loud buzzing noise from the trees approached, and, as it is a very shy insect, there is some difficulty in coming close enough to see it at work and observeits methods. Once well engaged in oviposi- tion, however, it becomes for the time being fearless and may be closely watched, even under a hand lens. The Department has received rather frequent reports of damage by this insect of late, in such states as Kansas, Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri. The smaller limbs of trees are often completely scarified over their upper and lateral surfaces, so that the trees become dwarfed or bark- bound, make a sickly growth, and are rendered more liable to the attacks of wood-boring insects. This latter source of injury was first Fie. 4.—Ceresa bubalus Fab.: a, female; b, enlargement of anterior foot of same; ¢, do. of antenna; d, do. of wing; e, last ventral segment of female; f, ventral view of tip of abdomen of female, showing terminal segments and ovipositor; g, do. lateral view; h, penultimate ventral segment of male; i ventral view of tip of abdomen of male—all enlarged (original). prominently brought to our notice in a communication from Mr. J. A. Pettigrew, superintendent of Lincoln Park, Chicago, who described the attacks of a borer in the smaller branches of the cottonwood (Pop- ulus monilifera), which caused the limbs to break off and fall to the ground in great numbers. Examination of the twigs submitted by him showed at once that they had been oviposited in very abundantly by the buffalo tree-hopper a year or two before, and that the old sears from the egg-punctures of this insect had furnished favorable condi- tions for the attacks of a wood-boring beetle, Oberea schaumii Lec. This beetle had deposited its eggs in the diseased points left by the Ceresa, and the larvee of the beetle had burrowed up and down the twigs, weak- ening them and causing them to break off and fall as described. Healthy twigs would be distasteful or unsatisfactory to this insect, but the diseased condition, and particularly the dead spots left by the Ceresa, 10 furnished the very conditions most favorable fer this wood-borer, as Similar injuries do for many other wood-boring insects. HISTORY OF THE SPECIES. Brief reference to the work of the Ceresain orchards have been made by various western entomologists, but no general account of it has appeared in any publication accessible to fruit growers. Its habits were first correctly described in an article by the writer in the Trans- actions of the Kansas Academy of Sciences for 1886 (pp. 84-85), and the same year Mr. John G. Jack gave a brief account of it in the LOPP +. YRS zn — FEIPP, Se eee FEPTPEIPS NS YS) Fig. 5.—Ceresa taurina Fitch: a, adult female, dorsal view; b, one-half lateral view of same; e¢, ventral view of tip of female abdomen with last ventral arc still more enlarged at side; d, lateral view of same; e, antenna; /, portion of hind tibia—all enlarged (original). Canadian Entomologist (vol. xvil, p. 51). Accounts purporting to be of the habits and life-history of Ceresa bubalus were published by Dr. Fitch and later by Dr. Riley, but in both instances an entirely distinct insect had been studied. Dr. Fitch, in his Twelfth Annual Report (1867, p. 889), described very elaborately the eggs of the common snowy tree-cricket (Gicanthus niveus Serv.) as the eggs of the buffalo tree- hopper, and Dr. Riley, in his Fifth Missouri Report (1873, p. 121), takes Dr. Fitch to task for this mistake, and proceeds to describe what he supposed to be the eggs and early stages of bubalus, again, however, having a totally distinct insect under observation. In the latter case ft ‘the error was excusable, because Dr. Riley really had under obser- vation a closely allied species which could not, at that time, and from the literature at hand, be easily distinguished from the more com- mon Ceresa bubalus. Dr. Riley has shown in a recent communication before the Entomological Society of Washington that his description, and figures of the eggs, relate to Ceresa taurina Fitch, a somewhat smaller and comparatively rare species. The general appearance of this latter insect is shown for purposes of comparison in the accom- panying illustration (Fig. 5, a, b), and the peculiar row of little raised ege-slits in the bark, each of which contains a single oval egg, are shown at Fig. 6, a, b. HABITS AND LIFE-HISTORY. The habits and life-history of the true buffalo tree-hopper are as fol- lows: The adult insect chooses as a nidus for its eggs the twigs, pref erably those of two or three years’ growth, of various trees, particularly the apple, willow, cottonwood, maple, ete. ; confines itself in general to the upper sur- face of the twigs, and works more abund- antly on the south side of the tree than on the north, although in this respect the pre- vailing winds and other conditions influ- ence the insect. The eggs are deposited quite as readily in the new growth of old trees aS in young trees, but the damage is much more noticeable in the latter case. The eggs are placed in small compound groups arranged in two nearly parallel or slightly curved slits extending in the direc- tion of the twig about three-sixteenths of an inch in length, and separated by one- , Fis. 6.—Ceresa taurina Fitch” a, : : ; twig showing rows of egg slits, eighth inch or less of bark (Fig. 7, b), Aa erie aeecee eee Facing either toward or away from the fle Sie enlarged (copied from trunk, the female makes with its ovipositor ee a Slightly curved slit through the outer bark, cutting in a direction pos- terior to the insect, so that the ovipositor, which is at first extended nearly at right angles to the body, at the completion of the slit, lies almost against the abdomen. The eggs are inserted very obliquely through the bark and nearly at right angles to the twig, immediately after the completion of the pr: liminary incision, beginning at the end of the slit last made, and are thrust well down into the cambium layer between the bark and the wood (Fig.7,c). A period of from one-half to two minutes is required for the insertion of each egg, after which the Ovipositor is partly withdrawn, moved alittle forward, and re-inserted, about twenty minutes being required for the cutting of the slit and filling it with eggs, which, in each slit, vary in numbers from 6 to 12. As soon as the first slit is completed a second one is made parallel to and slightly 12 curving toward the first, without change of position by theinsect. The | ovipositor, however, is thrust in at a very considerable angle from that | assumed in the first case, so that it crosses beneath the bark the cut first made, and the narrow intervening bark between the two incisions | is cut entirely loose. This has a very important bearing on the subse- quent condition of the wounds made by the insect in oviposition. The object is doubtless to cause a certain cessation of growth between the || two rows of eggs, to prevent their being crushed and choked out by | the rapid growth of the twig, and it is due to this peculiarity that the injury to the young limbs later assumes so serious a nature. A single incision made by the insect to contain its eggs would heal over and cause little after-damage, but with the combination of two incisions and the ultimately assumes an oval form, the dead bark of the center breaking out. After a few years, limbs which have been thickly worked ‘on by the insect become very scabby and rough, are easily broken off by the wind, and are very liable to attack by wood-boring insects. (See Fig. 7, e.) After complet- ing the two complementary slits and filling them with eggs, the female rests a considerable time before again begin- ning operations. The number of eggs deposited by a single female exceeds Fic. 7.—Ceresa bubalus Fab.: Twig. of 100, and possibly 200. Rather late in apple showing: a,femaleat work; b, recent egg-punctures; c, bark reversed with eggs : G in position, slightly enlarged; d, single row the fall a female which had just Pee nee eee je wounds ©! finished a pair of slits which contained fedapied trom Marat.) some 20 eggs was found to still contain 40 eggs in her ovaries. The adults first appear about the middle of July, and become most numerous during August and September. They begin oviposition about the middle of August, or even earlier, and continue this work until they are killed by the frosts of early winter. In Kansas I have found them busily ovipositing as late as the 24th of October. The eggs remain unchanged or dormant in the twigs until the following spring, hatching in May or early in June. The eggs of the buffalo tree-hopper are subject to the attacks of at least two minute egg-parasites. One, an undescribed species of Cosmo- coma, Miss Murtfeldt reports had destroyed the larger proportion of eggs sent her from various localities in Missouri. Mr. Jack probably refers to the same parasitic insect which he says he observed, Septem- killing of the intervening bark, causing | it to adhere to the wood, a large sear | is produced, which, with each subse- | quent year’s growth, enlarges and — | 13 ber 17, to the number of twelve or fifteen on a branch of apple about four inches long and on which some five or six tree-hoppers were ovi- positing. The other little parasitic fly is a Trichogramma, and has been described by Mr. William H. Ashmead as T. ceresarwin (Canadian Entomologist, vol. xx, p. 107, 1888). DESCRIPTION OF THE EARLIER STAGES. The egg is about one-sixteenth of an inch long, slightly curved, tapering towards the outer end and more rounded at the inner one. It is without markings, of a dirty, whitish color, and cylindrical, except as more or less angulated by the pressure of the wood and the adj acent eggs. The early larval and nymphal stages have never been carefully described. In general, however, the larvee and nymphs resemble the adult, but are wingless and covered along the center dorsally with numerous forked or barbed projections, in this particular resembling the same stages in the very closely allied tawrina, which Dr. Riley has fig- ured. (Fig. 6, ¢ and d.) Mr. Jack has described what is probably the last nymphal stage as follows: The full grown larva is about 8™™ in length, and light green in color, somewhat lighter than that of the mature insect. The young larve appeared to be of a darker green than they were at a later period of their growth. The general shape is tri- angular, like that of, the mature insect, but the broad horn-like projections are not seen in the larva. The eyes are prominent. On the front of the elevated thorax, and behind each eye are two short, strong spines, one above the other, armed with several lateral prongs or forks; higher up, near the apex of the triangular shaped thorax, are two more, somewhat larger armed spines, and the last two visible tho- racic segments are each provided with a pair of these branching spines that are still longer. There are also a pair of these spines, each armed with about 6 or 7 barbs, on each of the abdominal] segments next to the terminal. These are graduated in length, the shortest being on the last segments, and the longest hardly more than a millimeter in length. The thoracic spines project forward, while those on the abdominal segments are drawn forward at the base and then curved back, strongly suggesting the dorsal fin of a fish. On the last segment, which is long and tapering, there are two short armed spines directly above the anal opening, which is terminal. The ventral surface of the abdomen is scatteringly covered with short, strong bri: tles or hairs. The legs are also covered with stiff hairs. } FOOD-PLANTS. The larve and pupe, as well as the adults, feed on all sorts of succulent vegetation, such as weeds and garden vegetables, and are apparently not particularly fond of the apple, much preferring the more succulent annual plants. Mr. Jack reports that he found the adults feeding on the young and tender shoots of the apple, near the ground, by which I suppose he means the water shoots, for cer- tainly after very careful and repeated observations in an orchard which was so infested as to be nearly ruined, I failed entirely to find any indication of the feeding of larve or adults on apple. The injury, then, in this direction, to fruit and shade trees, is practically not 3613—No. 1 2 14 worth considering. These facts give a valuable suggestion in the mat- ter of preventives. REMEDIES. Remedial measures are difficult and in general impractical, because the larvee and adults feed on all sorts of vegetation and are very widely distributed. The adults, also, are too active and quick of flight to be successfully reached by caustic washes; and spraying to destroy the early stages is ordinarily out of the question, because it would necessi- tate extending the treatment to all surrounding vegetation, and as the adults are strong flyers, even this would give no absolute security. We must therefore turn to preventive measures for practical results. The limiting of the amount of foreign vegetation about and in orchards and nurseries is an excellent precaution, and little damage may be anticipated where the ground between the trees is kept clean and constantly cultivated. The larve and pupe under these conditions will be starved out. The orchard in which the writer first studied this insect, and which was so thoroughly infested as to be seriously injured, was one which had been neglected for a number of years and was full of weeds and succulent undergrowth, furnishing conditions under which an unusual multiplication of the Ceresa had taken place over a number of years. Surrounding and better-kept orchards showed little, if any, damage. Vigorous pruning in the fall or winter should be given trees which have been cut up to any extent, and this with clean culture should reduce the insect to small numbers. It is possible that something could be done by planting trap plants between the rows of trees, such as beans or other similar summer crops, which could be sprayed with the stronger mixtures of the kerosene and soap emulsion when the larve became numerous or about the Lst of July, but the more practical method is the cultural one already described. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES ON THE STRAWBERRY WEEVIL, ITS HAB- ITS, AND REMEDIES. By F. H. CHITTENDEN. The strawberry weevil (Anthonomus signatus Say) appeared in inju- . rious numbers in the spring of 1893 and again in 1894 in many of the same places that were infested in 1892, as reported in a previous arti- cle by the writer in INSECT LIFE (vol. V, pp. 168-170), and in a few new localities. INFESTED LOCALITIES OF 1893-94. In Maryland the strawberry weevil was reported by Mr. Elon Beh- rend at Seat Pleasant, Prince George County, where it was injurious dur- ing the past two seasons. No injury had been noticed on Mr. Behrend’s farm in previous years, but great damage had been done on neighboring TS farms, from which the insect had undoubtedly spread tohisown. Wild vines of strawberry and Potentilla were growing in some abundance in the vicinity of the strawberry beds when these were visited in May of 1893, but were little troubled by the weevil, the cultivated varieties ‘‘Sharpless” and ‘Charles Downing” being greatly preferred. Mr. Behrend reported that a neighbor of his, Mr. W. E. Carrick, had also sustained some loss through this weevil. The insect was again destructive in Anne Arundel County, at Arnold and at Harmans. Mr. R.S. Cole, of the latter place, wrote that there was a Shortage of at least half the crop in 1892, and in 1893 about a third was destroyed. The species had been noticed there for upwards of ten years, the principal damage being to the “Sharpless,” ‘ Hoff- man,” ‘‘ Michel’s Early,” and ‘* Bidwell” varieties. Mr. L. J. Atwater reported injuries to ‘‘Sharpless” berries in Mont- gomery County, near the District line. One crop was completely ruined. In Virginia, in Alexandria County, Mr. W. T. Sprankle, of Falls Church, who was one of the heaviest losers in 1892, gathered good crops the past two years, the weevil appearing in injurious abundance in only one portion of his fields. He reported that those who had lost entire crops in 1892 did not suffer much loss in 1893. Capt. William S. Patton, West End, Fairfax County, reported complete loss of acrop of ‘‘ Sharpless,” and added that the fruit-growers of his vicinity had abandoned this variety on account of its susceptibility to weevil attack. Information was also received of the presence of this insect in a number of other localities in Maryland and Virginia but no serious loss was incurred. The insect was noticed in Delaware again and reported to Mr. M. H. Beckwith, of the State Experiment Station, in strawberry fields about Clayton. It was also troublesome in a few localities in southern New Jersey during the two years past and so reported by Prof. J. B. Smith in the preceding volume (p.191) and by letter. It did not, however, do any special injury. In fact, the insect has been much less abundant the past two years than in 1892 and appears to be on the decrease in these States. _ Iuxtensive damage was reported to the strawberry during May of the current year by a correspondent in Columbia County, Pa., and as the Injury was due to the severing of the stalks there can be no doubt that the strawberry weevil was the culprit. Accounts of similar injuries in recent years have been received from New York State, but with no report as to the extent of damage. | A number of our correspondents have complained particularly of the damage done by the destruction of the staminates used in the fertiliza- _ tion of pistillates, the product being dwarfed and useless fruit. The presence of the insect in 1892, when the greatest damage known in its history was done, was reported too late in the season for experi- mentation with remedies, and circumstances were equally unfavorable the past two seasons. suet: remedial experiments as were performed were by correspondents of the Division, and we are particularly indebted to 16 Mr. 15. E. Behrend for assistance in this line. In response to numerous invitations from local fruit-growers, in 1893 the writer visited some of the infested farms in Maryland and Virginia and made some additional observations on the habits of the species. NOTES ON HABITS AND LIFE HISTORY. New Food-plants; Harly Appearance of the Insect—The strawberry weevil was first noticed abroad April 16, 1893, and on the 15th, of 1894, in great abundance, on a new food-plant, the red-bud or. Judas-tree (Cercis canadensis), which grows in profusion along the banks of the Potomac, about Washington. This tree had not yet bloomed, but the insect had already begun its attack, as great numbers of punctured buds bore witness, showing that it had been at work for several days. Early-flowering plants were unusually backward in blooming here the past two seasons, and this had its effect on the appearance of the insect. In earlier seasons it undoubtedly appears by the first week of April, as the red-bud is known to bloom at that time. The beetles, then, are abroad some time before strawberries bloom, and may appear on the vines before blossoming. They are doubtless attracted to the vines, however, mainly by the open flowers to which they first resort for food, although they also derive much nourishment from the pollen within the buds. Very soon after first bloom they are to be found in great abun- dance. Appearing, as they often do, in great numbers almost from the outset, their injuries are severe even in such seasons as the past two, when only from 10 to 20 per cent of a crop is lost in the aggregate, because the blossoms chiefly injured are the earliest, and consequently the shortage is largely in the early fruit, or that which would have brought the highest market price. Certain red-bud trees growing on the border of woodland, where they are protected from the wind and fully exposed to the sun, were much frequented by these insects, and of the thousands of buds which they bore a majority were attacked and severed from the stem in the char- acteristic manner of this weevil. Other trees in the vicinity were com- paratively free from attack. One of the infested trees was visited May 13 and the ground was seen to be strewn with the discolored buds. A number were gathered and examined only to find them all empty, hav- ing been torn open by ants, of which there were two species crawling in abundance about them. This would seem to prove that the red-bud is not necessarily a factor of great importance in the economy of this insect, since only such trees as are fully exposed to the sun served to attract the weevil in great numbers and the immature offspring of these are very liable to fall a prey to ants. The two species observed among the infested buds have been identified by Mr. Th. Pergande as Formica fusca Linn. and Aphanogaster fulva Rog. Dewberries (Rubus canadensis) were found to be infested in about the 17 same proportion as blackberries, and Mr. B. E. Behrend reported inju- ries also to ** black cap” raspberries. Other plants which it was thought possible might be exceptionally attacked by this insect were carefully examined, but no traces of its work were apparent. The blossoms of apple, pear, peach, and cherry were searched, and of wild plants, sassafras, cherry, and locust. The last named is much frequented by ants, which might repel the weevils. Notes on the Habits of the Adults.—As night approaches the beetles descend to the base of the strawberry plants for shelter. Here, with antenne and legs folded tightly to their bodies, they are tolerably secure from nocturnal marauders, such as Carabid# and other preda- ceous insects, until the morning sun awakes them to activity. In the field it is doubtful if this insect ever eats the leaves of straw- berry, as there is usually a supply of pollen and petals sufficient for its needs, but should this supply for any reason become exhausted the leaves would undoubtedly suffer. In our rearing cages the insects lived for some time on strawberry leaves, but when blossoms were introduced the insects found them, at once showing their preference. Duration of the Life-Cycle.-—A quantity of severed buds were gath- ered in the field May 8, all of which had been cut that day or the day previous. These began to disclose the imago June 5, and all had issued by the 8th. These data show that the life-cycle from egg to adult is from twenty-eight to thirtydays. The weather during this period was unusually cool until the last few days, hence the average veriod of the life-cycle may be said to be about four weeks. Process of Oviposition.—Previous eftorts to observe oviposition in con- finement having failed, the insects were watched in the field, many individuals being observed puncturing the buds, and in the act of cut- tingthestems. The female usually works head downward, and is some. times alone but often accompanied by the male. The egg is laid first and after severing the stem the insect always departed. After perfo- rating the corolla, the insect turns around and applying the tip of her abdomen to the hole deposits a single egg, then crawls to the stem, places herself firmly on the upper surface, head downward as. before, and deliberately severs the bud containing the egg from the stem. The latter is sometimes only punctured, but in bright sunshiny weather a number of insects were observed, all of which cut off the stem until it hung only by a thin shred of the epidermis. The stem was cut straight across, the insect working rapidly and steadily until the stem began to droop, when she ceased operations and withdrew down the stem. On cool, damp, or cloudy days, the insect is not active and does not, therefore, accomplish as much as in pleasant weather. A field was visited on a fair, warm day following a cool, rainy spell of two or three days’ duration, and an excellent opportunity was afforded for compari- son. Stems could be seen that had been attacked only a day or two before. a single black speck showing where the punctures had been 18 made. Favorable or unfavorable weather will explain, at least in part, why some buds are cut off, while others remain attached. The entire time consumed varies greatly, but fifteen or even ten min- utes, is ample for oviposition. The process of forming a hole consists simply in perforating the corolla, although the calyx is also sometimes pierced through, the time varying from two to five or more minutes. In inserting the egg less than a minute is ordinarily consumed, and the process of severing the bud varies in time according to how completely the insect does its work. INJURIOUS APPEARANCES. The strawberry weevil appears to be one of the many forms, like the corn bill-bugs, for example, that are only exceptionally injurious, which appear in great abundance for one or more seasons in certain districts, aud after causing a vast amount of trouble relapse into obscurity, to reappear in a new locality after alapseof years. A review of economic - literature, however, together with reports from correspondents, shows that this insect has done more or less damage in the past, year after year, since its first recorded appearance in 1871. It is morethan prob- able that the strawberry and blackberry crops, at least of this vicinity, © are annually levied upon by this little creature to the extent of from 5 to 20 per cent, a loss that would seldom be noticed. _ Now that our local growers are becoming familiar with the appear- ance of the insect and its work, we should be better able to ebserveits progress, as well as to cope with it in years of abundance. The following table shows that the insect has been more or less inju- rious for the past twelve years: 1871.—Maryland.! 1891.—Maryland. 1873.—Missouri.? Virginia. 1883.-——-Michigan (northern). New Hampshire (Dimmock).*a 1884.—Staten Island, N. Y.? | 1892.—Maryland. 1885.—Staten Island, N. Y.? | Virginia. Proy. Ontario, Canada.‘ Delaware. Pennsylvania (Krieg).® | _ 1893.—Maryland. 1886.—Prov. Ontario, Canada.® | oe ee pee Virginia. 1887.—Pennsylvania.® | = Prov. Quebec, Canada.*%a | Delaware (Beckwith). 1888.—Michigan (Southern).*a . Southern New Jersey (Smith).°) Prov. Quebec, Canada.® | 1894.—Mary land. 1889.—Mary land. Virginia. Prov. Quebec, Canada.°® | Delaware.’ 1890.—Maryland. Southern New Jersey.’ Virginia. Pennsylvania. Prov. Quebec, Canada.® | ‘Glover. Monthly Rept. Dept. Agr., 1871, p. 479. *Riley. Rept. Commr. Agr. for 1885, p. 276. 3Cook. Rept. Sec’y Hort. Soc. Mich., for 1883, p. 154; 3a Rept. Ag]. Exp. St., Mich., for 1888, p. 165. 4Saunders. Can. Ent., xvil, p. 239. 5INSECT LIFE, I, p.85; 5a do., Iv, p. 76; 5b do., vi, p. 191. 6 Fletcher. Exptl. Farms (Canada), Rept. for 1890, p. 174; 6a do., for 1887, p. 37. 7 Present in strawberry fields, but no serious injury reported. 19 The remaining invasions have either been recorded in my first arti- ele, or have been reported by various correspondents since that paper was published. Some of these correspondents write that the insect and its work have been noticed in Virginia for six or seven years in the past, and in Maryland for upwards of ten years. Mr. James Fletcher writes that he has an occasional reference to it every year. REMEDIES. Although a difficult insect to contend with, it would not be impossible to keep it in check in some districts, if all the strawberry growers of a neighborhood could be induced to combine in the work of clearing away wild plants and destroying the insects in their fields. In other places, however, where wild blackberry, strawberry, and Potentilla, in which the insect normally breeds, grow so abundantly, as in some localities about Washington, it would seem next to useless to attempt to control it. Burning Brush-wood in Spring.—The practice of ‘* burning over” the underbrush and weeds in the spring so universally in vogue in parts of Maryland and Virginia is undoubtedly productive of good results in protecting the cultivated strawberry from the weevil and other insect enemies. In past years the strawberry weevil has always been abund- ant on the wild blackberry and strawberry that grow in the greatest profusion along the shores of the Potomac near Washington, but the past two seasons this insect was comparatively scarce, and this falling off can only be attributed to the unusually close burning over of the weeds and shrubbery of the vicinity. The blackberry bushes were very generally killed, and it is quite likely that the hibernating beetles were destroyed by the heat. Trap Crops.—Excellent proof that the beetle may be successfully trapped by planting early-flowering varieties with other berries was afforded this year. Ina field of “Sharpless” a few ‘* Charles Downing” were growing, and although the latter bloomed only a day or two in advance of the former the greater abundance of the weevils on the ‘“ Downings” was at once apparent. By laying out our beds with the earliest blooming staminates on the sides which experience has shown to be the most likely to be first attacked, e. g., toward wooded land, the beetles can be massed where they can be more profitably reached with insecticides. : By transplanting a few trees of red-bud to the vicinity of the straw- berry fields, placing them between the beds and the nearest woodland, the hibernated brood of beetles could be reduced to a minimum. This tree, which blooms several days before the earliest strawberries, attracts the first arrivals. As soon as the buds appear the tree should be jarred and shaken daily, and the beetles, together with the buds in which they have laid their eggs, gathered on sheets saturated with kerosene, which will destroy them. The trees may also be profitably 20 sprayed with Paris green, as the blossoms appear in advance of the leaves and would be easily reached by the poison. The Sweep-net.—Capturing the beetles with a sweep-net has been sug- gested, but in my experience they are not readily captured, on account of the low growth of the vines and the habit of the beetles of dropping to the ground or of adhering to the plants when disturbed. It would be necessary to use the net almost daily and in the heat of the day, to produce much effect. Dusting Plants with Lime, Ashes, etc.—Some of our correspondents tried dusting the plants with lime, ashes, and similar substances as repellants, but in the fields thus treated the insects were not present in sufficient abundance for satisfactory tests. As others will continue Such experiments in the future it may be well to quote the experience of Mr. W. A. Hale, as reported by Mr. Fletcher. He says: “I tried equal parts of air-slaked lime and sifted hardwood ashes; also ammonia in the form of fermenting hen manure put on between the rows, power- ful enough to wither the foliage, but with little or no effect.” He also tried dissolved bone, which ‘checked, to a certain extent, the depreda- tions, but left upon the hulls its pungent smell.” Mr. R. 8. Cole writes that he ‘“‘used a mixture of tobacco dust, lime, Paris green, and coal oil” quite plentifully on the vines, but with little effect on the in- sects. Other remedies were tried with negative success. Pyretbrum had little or no effect when dusted on the plants in the open field. This species, aS well as the other snout-beetles, is extremely hardy, and undoubtedly revives soon after treatment. Mr. Sprankle had placed a brood of young chickens in that portion of his fields which was badly infested, and at the time of my visit the little creatures were closely watched, but though the weevils could be seen in numbers on every side they seemed to utterly escape the eyes of the chickens, which were engaged chiefly in devouring larval grasshoppers and other larger insects. Arsenical Spraying.—The arsenites have been suggested as a rem- edy, but their value was considered doubtful for the reason that the adult insects do not feed on the foliage, and can only be reached when they feed on the open blossoms or cut through the corolla of the bud for oviposition. The larva can not be affected at all by this or any other spray now in use, as they are entirely protected within the buds. Then, the arsenites do not commend themselves to the average grower because of the fear of poisoning the consumer. In fact, one writer on this subject expressly disapproves of their use on this ground, but there is not the slightest possibility of poisoning the fruit, since the arsenical to have any effect on the weevil must be applied while the plants are in bud or blossom, the last application being made at least three weeks before the first berries ripen. This is not mere theory. The matter has been recently tested at 21 the Iowa Experiment Station. A strawberry patch infested with the green strawberry slug (Monostegia ignota Cr.) was thoroughly sprayed with London purple (one pound to 200 gallons of water), and within a week after this application Mr. H. A. Gossard and other employés of the station ‘‘ate very heartily of the ripened fruit” without experienc- ing any ill effects whatever. This matter is fully discussed in Bulletin No. 18 of the Iowa station, and in Entomological News (vol. Il, p, 230), and the general subject of the danger of poisoning from the con- sumption of fruit and vegetables sprayed with arsenicals is considered in Farmer’s Bulletin No. 19 of this Department. In accordance with my suggestions, Mr. B. E. Behrend made some experiments with the kerosene emulsion and, at his own instance, with Paris green, and kindly reported results. Experiments with Kerosene Emulsion and Paris Green.—The kerosene- soap emulsion, diluted with 10 parts of water, was sprayed on the vines May 5 and 6 (1893), an ordinary spraying syringe being used for the purpose. May 8, when I visited the field, a few beetles were still on these vines, but the difference in their numbers and of those that were at work on the check plats was quite perceptible. The application was made too late to be of substantial value, but it served to show that the emulsion was of some value as a repellant. The present year work was begun earlier, and with better success. The field treated was divided into five parts. Plats 1 and 2 were of the ** Charles Downing” variety, of equal size, and contained about the same number of plants. Plat 1 was sprayed with Paris green April 26 and 29, May 3 and 6. Plat 2 was treated with kerosene emulsion April 29 (threatening and rainy weather pre- venting earlier spraying), May 3 and 6. Asa result, double the num- ber of berries were picked from plat 1 as from plat 2. Plats 3 and 4 of the ‘“‘Sharpless” variety were treated in a similar manner to 1 and 2, but the presence of blight prevented an exact esti- mate of the result. Plat 5, or half of the entire field, of ‘‘ Charles Downing” variety, was treated with Paris green, with the result that only a few buds were found to have been cut! Mr. Behrend also reported that a neighbor of his applied Bordeaux mixture with some success. It should be said that while the above experiments were of value in showing the efficacy of Paris green and its superiority to kerosene emul- sion, still the fact that the emulsion was not applied until three days later than the Paris green must be taken into consideration, as this undoubtedly affected the result. Directions for the Application of these Insecticides.—The following sug- gestions are substantially as given to our correspondents during the past two years. To obtain the best results it is necessary to spray the vines a day or two before blooming, and again two or three days after first bloom, at least three applications being made at intervals, the dif. ferent applications being graded with a view to keeping the plants 22 constantly covered with a thin coating of oil, or the buds and blossoms with the arsenical. For example, if the variety of berry to be treated | begins to bloom April 27, it might be sprayed on the 24th or 25th, again | on the 29th or 30th, and a third time, say May 5. It is doubtful ifa fourth application would be profitable except in the event of rain or heavy dew fall after spraying, as the chief damage is done during the first two weeks of blooming. The finest possible mist-like spray should be obtained and applied lightly, in such a manner that it will adhere to the plauts, and not form globules and roll off to the ground. In the use of the kerosene emulsion the greatest care should be observed, first, that it be properly prepared, second; that it be not -applied in too large quantity. In its preparation the usual formula is used, viz, 2 parts kerosene, or coal oil, to 1 part soap solution or milk. For use on strawberry vines a 10-per cent solution, made by diluting with 9 parts water, will probably give the best results. Hither Paris green or London purple may be used on strawberry in the same proportion as on apple, viz, 1 pound of the poison to 150 gal- lons of water. 7 The best form of apparatus for spraying garden plants is the knap- sack sprayer, fitted with the finest Vermorel spray-nozzle. In case the plants should also be affected with blight the Bordeaux mixture may be employed as a diluent, instead of lime and water, with either the emulsion or the arsenites and in the same proportion. Full directions for the preparation and application of these remedies are given in Farmer’s Bulletin No. 19 of this Department, and therefore need not be repeated here. It should also be remembered that the arsenicals will act with good success on other injurious insects that might be present on the vines, e. g., the strawberry slugs, the leaf-rollers, and the adults of the root- borers, whiie the emulsion would prove valuable against the strawberry plant-louse. On Covering Beds as a Preventive.—Several conditions have operated against the adoption of a covering for the beds: A disinclination on the part of the grower to incur what seemed an extra expense—although this would be amply repaid by the protection against frost and the earlier harvesting of the crop—and a general disposition to “ take the chances” of the insect being again injurious. Again, there is often great difficulty in inducing a farmer to adopt remedial measures except at the time when the damage is most apparent, and this is, of course, too late for successful treatment of a species like the one under considera- tion. Another reason assigned for failure to employ precautionary measures was a fear that the insect hibernated in the beds. Now, . while a few individuals may do so, particularly in old beds that have become choked up with grass and weeds, the majority, in all probability, seek more sheltered retreats. In conversation on the subject in 1892 with some of our local growers I expressed the opinion that the new 23 brood as a whole would, after feeding on such flowers as could be found at that time, fly to the nearest woods and there find protection under the leaves and other débris till the following spring, and the experience of the past seasons bears out this theory. One of the strawberry beds at Falls Church adjoins a bit of woodland, and it was along the border of these woods that the insects began their attack last year, other portions of the field, on higher ground, exposed to the wind being practically exempt from infestation. It should be borne in mind that the few insects that might hibernate in the beds, if these are neglected until they become overrun with grass and weeds, or contrive to effect an entrance under the covering, can be killed by a few dustings with pyrethrum. Finally, the fruit-grower should not trust entirely to staminate varie- ties. It will be found far better, in districts where this insect is known to be injurious, to grow pistillates as is now customary, and the spray need only be applied to the staminates used in fertilization, provided the nonfertilizing plants are perfect pistillates and hence bear no pollen. OCCURRENCE OF THE HEN FLEA (SARCOPSYLLA GALLINACEA WESTW.) IN FLORIDA. By A. S. PackarD, Providence, R. I. At the meeting of the Entomological Society of Washington, held > November 12, 1886 (see Proc., vol. I, p. 59), a letter was read from Judge Lawrence C. Johnson relative to the damage done by a species of flea to young chickens at Gainesville, Fla. At the meeting held March 7, 1889, another com- munication from Judge John- son was read, in which he gave, with some detail, the habits of the insect (loc. cit. pp. 203-205). Wishing to further examine this case, Prof. Riley kindly sent me a number of the males and females from the U. S. National Museum. These I Fie. 8. Sarcopsylla gallinacea: male—enlarged; ant, identified as Sarcopsylla gal- antenne; m, palpi—more enlarged. (From drawings linacea Westw., and in 1889, PY Packar@) | in the Museum at Leyden, I was kindly shown by Dr. C, Ritzema Bos ‘specimens of this species from Ceylon, which seemed on a superficial examination to be the same as the Floridian example. The insect was first described by the late Prof. Westwood in an articlein the Entomolo- gist’s Monthly Magazine (vol. x1, 187475, p. 246), entitled ‘‘ Description 24 of anew Pulicideous Insect from Ceylon.” To this article I have not | had access. j My original identification was made from tbe figure and description | by Dr. O. Taschenberg in his useful monographic work “ Die Fléhe,” | which was based on type-example in Ritzema Bos’s collection received | from Westwood. Westwood states that the creatures fastened to the eyelids and on the neck of the domestic hen at Colombo, Ceylon, whence > they were brought to England by Mr. Moseley, of the Challenger Expe- dition. To further insure the accuracy of the identification of the Floridian examples with the Asiatic species, I sent one to Dr. Julius Wagner, of St. Petersburg, who writes me as follows: ‘The flea sent is Sarcopsylla gallinacea 3, and quite similar to the examples of which I send you a pair (¢ and @).” These specimens were from a second locality in Asia, the slide being | labeled “ Strix sp. Murgab, Suiran-Beir, 3, v, 1893.” This locality we- suppose to be in Turkestan. It is noteworthy that the host is an— owl. It is possible that the wide zoographical distribution of this spe- | cies is due to the fact that it is carried about from one region to | another by birds. | On comparing the Turkestan specimens with those from Florida I : am unable to see any difference; the proportions of the different parts of the body being the same, — the joints and armature of the legs and tarsi not differing. I add camera sketches of the | two sexes. Fig. 8, male, with theantenne and palpienlarged; ~ Fig. 9, female, drawn to the © same scale. I may add that Dr. Julius © Wagner, who is giving much attention to the Siphonaptera, LEG is desirous of receiving spegi- \\ | mens of fleas from this country. Fic. 9. Sarcopsyllu gallinacea: Female—enlarged. He recommends collecting them (From drawings by Packard.) : : : =. | in the spring or in the begin- — ning of summer. At that season one may find the larve and pupz in — the nests and holes of Mammalia, and the adult insects on the same — animals, especially on the young ones. Dr. Wagner’s address is the — Zoological Laboratory of the Imperial University of St. Petersburg. ee 25 NOTES ON COTTON INSECTS FOUND IN MISSISSIPPI. By WILLIAM H. ASHMEAD. Towards the latter part of July, 1893, I was instructed to proceed to Utica, Hinds county, Miss., to make some special studies on the boll- worm (Heliothis armiger Hiibn.). I reached my destination on July 23 and left August 23, my stay there extending over a period of just one month. During this brief period, as time permitted, studies were made on such other cotton insects as were brought under my observation, and I find now that many of these have never before been reported on cotton, while still others, especially among the parasitic forms, prove to be new to science. Inasmuch as many of these are not only of scientific interest but of economic importance, it seems to me desirable that all should be placed on record, together with such brief notes on rearings and habits as have been made, for the assistance and guidance of other workers. As the most satisfactory method of presenting these brief notes, I propose to arrange the insects observed in consecutive order under the different Orders to which they belong. ORDER ORTHOPTERA. The Carolina Mantis or rear-horse (Stagmomantis carolina Burm.).— The nymph of this striking insect was alone met with, the mature insect not having put in its appearance. Its old egg-cases were found twice. Three or four species of the genus Gryllus were common in the cotton fields. They probably feed occasionally on cotton, but no direct observa- tions were made on their habits. The minute three-toed cricket (Tridactylus minutus Scudd.) was quite common in the cotton fields and was observed feeding on the tender, newly-formed leaves. Its preference is for low, damp situations, and it was rarely met with in high, dry places. The banded cricket (Nemobius fasciatus DeG.)—Not rare. Feeds occasionally on the tender leaves. The agitating cricket (Hapithus agitator Uhler).—A single specimen only taken, hiding in a blossom. The petals had a hole eaten through them, possibly by it, but it was not observed feeding. The beautiful leaf-palpus cricket (Phyllopalpus pulchellus Uhler) was not uncommon in the blossoms of cotton planted on low land, con- tiguous to a Swamp orrunning stream. It was observed feeding upon the petals, corolla, and pollen. Gundlach’s cricket (Cyrtoxipha gundlachi Sauss.).—A single speci- men taken in a cotton blossom. It was not observed feeding. The banded tree-cricket (canthus fasciatus Fitch).—This species is not uncommon, and feeds upon the leaves. It is readily distinguished from C2. niveus and allied species by having along, straight black line, 26 and a short, more or less curved line, on basal joint of antenne, and | two short black lines on the second joint, the outer being the shorter. | The eggs are deposited in double rows in long slits made by the ovi-— positor of the female, in the smaller lateral branches or the leaf-petioles | of the cotton.. Each egg is very elongate, 3™™ long, or over five times | as long as thick, perfectly white, and with a granulated cap at the top — or outer end. The duration of the egg stage is from four to five days, _ although it may be even shorter, as apparently fresh specimens taken © in the petiole of a leaf on August 3 hatched August 6. Other speci- mens taken August 5 hatched August 9. The cone-headed locust (Conocephalus obtusus Burm.).—Only occa- sionally met with on cotton. It feeds on the leaves, eating large pieces out of the sides and gnawing holes through the middle. Two nymphs of another species, or belonging to another genus, were also taken feeding on the leaves. This species has an acute tubercle on the forehead and white rings on the antenne. The long-tailed cotton locust (Orchelimum gossypii Scudd.).—This Species is in the National Museum labeled O. longicauda Walsh, but so far as I can find was never described by him. Mr. Samuel H. Scudder in “Entomological Notes” (pt. Iv, p. 64) described it under the name O. gossypii, and says: ‘‘This is the insect referred to in the Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History — (vol. x1, p. 434) as laying its eggs in the stems of the cotton plant. The eggs were pale yellow, one-fifth of an inch long, cylindrical, bluntly pointed, and a little tapering at the end from which the larva emerges; the other extremity was rounded.” I found the species common, feeding in the blossoms, eating the corolla and petals, and pr eventing the formation of the boll. The Species is very voracious, and a single specimen must destroy many bolls before attaining full growth. Two other species with similar habits, O. glaberrimum Burm. and 0. Jfasciatum Scudd., were observed. The red-legged locust (Melanoplus femur-rubrum DeG.).—Taken in both nymph and imago state, feeding on the leaves. The obscure grasshopper (Acridium obscurum Burm.).—Very com- mon. Feeds in the nymph stage upon the leaves, and sometimes almost entirely defoliated some of the branches. In destructiveness it comes next to the long-tailed cotton locust. The rugose grasshopper (Hippiscus rugosus Scudd.) — Although plen- tiful in all the fields, this species was only occasionally seen feeding on cotton leaves. | In the family Tettigide five distinct species were taken on cotton, as follows: Batrichidea cristata Scudd.; Tettigidea lateralis Say; Tettix ornatus Say; T. femoratus Scudd.; and T. arenosus Burm. 27 ORDER THYSANOPTERA. Three distinct species of Thripide were taken on cotton. Two spe- cies, the wheat Thrips (Thrips tritici Fitch) and the apple Thrips (Phleothrips mali Fitch) were taken in the blossoms, puncturing the stamens and corolla, but no serious injury seemed to follow their attack. The other species is apparently predaceous and was observed feed- ing on the cotton Aleyrodes (A. gossypii). It is apparently undescribed, and may be characterized as follows: Thrips trifasciatus n. sp. Female.—Length 0.8™™. Light brown; eyes strongly faceted, purplish-brown in certain lights; three basal segments of abdomen above, dark brown; segments 4, 5, and 6 white; apical segments light brown, the sutures dusky; legs, except hind femora towards tips, white; wings, linear, strongly fringed, without nerves, the ground color brown or fuscous, with three transverse white bands, i. e., the front wings have a white band at base, another at about two-thirds their length, and with the apices white. Habitat.—Near Utica, Miss. ORDER NEUROPTERA. The larve of the lacewing flies are predaceous, feeding upon aph- ides, mites, minute caterpillars, and the eggs and larve of other insects. They are commonly called aphis lions. In the family Hemerobiide only a single species was discovered feed- ing on the cotton aphis (Aphis gossypii Glover). A full-grown larva was taken July 28, while it was feeding upon aphides. The following description was made: Body long and slender; abdomen gradually tapering to a point at the apex, and measuring 8 ™™ in length; head small, with long curved pointed mandibles, medium sized eyes and two antennez extending to the middle thoracic segment; first tho- racic segment much longer than wide and only about half the width of the second and third, the latter segments being the widest of all, and each with a large whitish spot at the sides; abdomen much longer than the head and thorax united, gradually produced into a point posteriorly and composed of 9 segments. During the night it spun an extremely loosely woven cocoon, of the finest silk, 6™™ long by 3 ™™ in width, in which it transformed into a pupa, the pupa being whitish in color, scarcely 4 ™™ long, and plainly discernible through the meshes of the cocoon. On August 4 the imago appeared, being just six days in the pupa state. It is apparently the insect described by Walker from Georgia (Brit. Mus. Cat. Neuropt., p. 286) under the name Hemerobius humuli Linn.; but as Hagen believes it to be distinct, and two species having the same specific name can not be retained, the specific name for this spe- cies may be changed to gossypii and it may be known in future as the cotton lacewing fiy (Hemerobius gossypii). No less than five distinct species of the beneficial Chrysopide were taken on the cotton, the larve of which feed on the cotton aphis, the eggs of various insects, and minute caterpillars. The larva of one spe- cles was seen eagerly seizing and sucking dry a minute lepidopterous 28 leaf-miner, another the nymph of a small tree-hopper, while in confine- | ment nearly all the species will attack voraciously almost any small insect they can seize with their curved jaws. | As no effort seems to have been made previously to identify the spe-. cies of these important predaceous insects found on cotton, I give | below the results of my work in this direction, believing it just as | important to know the names of those insects beneficial to us as it is to | know those which are noxious or injurious. | The eges of all these species are laid in clusters on either the upper. or lower side of a leaf, suspended on delicate threads, and might easily | be mistaken for the spores of some fungi. All appear very much alike, | and scarcely any specific difference can be detected between the eggs | of the different species. | The eyed lacewing (Chrysopa oculata Say) is known at once by having a black ring on the second joint of the antenne, black antennal sockets, | a broad black line below the eye, four black spots on vertex, and by the prothorax having three black points on each side. | The white-horned lacewing (Chrysopa aldicornis Fitch) agrees very | closely with the previous species, but the first joint of the antenne is — annulated with sanguineous, the four spots on the crown conjoined and | forming two black bands, while the prothorax has only one black point _ at the sides anteriorly. | The black-horned lacewing (Chrysopa nigricornis Burm.) resembles | somewhat the preceding, but with the head without black marks or lines, except one on each side of the clypeus and sometimes a line or spot beneath the eye; the first and second joint of the antennz are pale, not annulated with black or sanguineous, the flagellum being black at basal one-third, while the prothorax usually has a black point at the anterior angle, although sometimes wanting. The stripe-horned lacewing (Chrysopa lineaticornis Fitch) is closely related to C. nigricornis Burm., but has the basal joint of antennze with a black or dusky line above, the prothorax with a fuscous line along the sides, while the head is spotted with fuscous anteriorly. The slender lacewing (Chrysopa attenuata Walk.) is a pale greenish- yellow species and the form most commonly met with on cotton, all the veins of the wings being pale green, more rarely with some of the veins obscured or dusky, the head with a sanguineous line below the eyes and with the palpi varied with fuscous or black. ORDER PLATYPTERA. The insects belonging to the family Psocide are more or less social in their habits, especially at the approach of cold weather, and when immature resemble the biting lice or Mallophaga. They are scaven- gers, feeding upon decomposing animal and vegetable matter and upon fungi. 29 Cecilius mobilis Hagen.—A single specimen agreeing perfectly with the brief but imperfect description of Dr. Hagen was taken on the under surface of a cotton leaf August 5. A second species belonging to another genus is apparently “ae scribed, and for this I have proposed the name Psocus gossypii, It is characterized as follows: Psocus gossypii ll. sp. Female.—Length to tip of wings, 6™™ ; expanse of wings, 10.5™™. Rust-brown; ocelli, palpi, and antennz except two basal joints, black; abdomen, except toward base above, blackish-fuscous; apical margin of the scutellum and legs (except the tibiz and tarsi, which are fuscous or blackish), yellowish; wings, fuliginous, the large triangular pterostigma and the venation (except of the median nervure and its fork, the claval veins basally, the short vein along the hind margin just beyond the apex of the clavus, and the vein joining the hind fork of the median nervure and forming the posterior side of the closed quadrate discoidal cell, which are yellow- ish,) black. This species belongs in the section with P. venosus Burm. and supet- ficially resembles it; but it is relatively smaller (although specimens of P. venosus are occasionally found as small), the color is paler without the brassy tinge on the head, while the pterostigma is black, not yellow. (To be continued.) ON A LECANIUM INFESTING BLACKBERRY, CONSIDERED IDEN- TICAL WITH L. FITCHII, SIGN. By T. D. A. COCKERELL, Las Cruces, N. Mez. In the year 1801 (or 1804 ?) Schrank described a scale found on Rubus in Europe, naming it Coccus rubi. Signoret, when writing his ‘+ Essai,” recognized that this was a Lecanium, but beyond this he could say nothing very definite, as Schrank’s description was extremely short, and the insect had not been seen by him. Lichtenstein, however, in 1882, proposed a new genus Tetrura, its. type being 7. rubi, which he supposed to be the Coceus rubi Schrank. But his insect was a form allied to Dactylopius and therefore not that of Schrank, which still remained unknown to modern authors. Fortunately, in May, 1891, Dr. T. A. Chapman rediscovered Lecanium rubi (Schr.) in England, and in June of the same year the species was also found by Mr. J. W. Douglas. Thelatter gave an extended descrip- tion of it, with figures by Mr. Newstead, in the Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine (1892, pp. 105-107). Coming now to this country, we find in Signoret’s work a description of Lecanium fitchii, which was foundon bramble by Asa Fitch. The latter had labeled it L. rubi, but Signoret observed that it did not seem to be the same as that of Schrank, and accordingly proposed the name LL. fitchii. 3615— 30 For some time past it has been recognized that a Lecanium was to be found in the northeastern States on Rubus, but its identification has been a matter of doubt. The chief element in this doubt has arisen from Signoret’s statement that L. jfitchii was the smallest species known to him, whereas the insect commonly recognized in recent times is by no means particularly small. In July, 1893, Mr. J. Fletcher sent me specimens of a Lecaniwm on Lawton blackberry, from St. Davids, Ontario. From these I made the following notes at the time: Male scale 5™™ long, 3™™ wide; oblong, subcarinate, sides finely rugose, not pli- eate, dorsum shiny; color, dark chestnut brown; several of the scales rather sub- — globose than oval; sides of some more or less plicate. Newly-hatched larvxe ocherous-white, with a very conspicuous blackish broad longitudinal band. I did not study this species further at the time, but noted that it was allied to and possibly a variety of L. persice. June 12, 1894, Dr. J. A. Lintner sent me several specimens on a blackberry twig, the locality not being stated. Wishing to clear the matter up, I have made a microscopic examination of them, with the following result: Female with antenne 7-jointed; 2, 3, and 4 long and subequal (3 a little the longer) ; 5 and 6 very short and subequal (6 a little the longer); 7 a little longer than 6, but much shorter than 4; 5 somewhat longer than broad; 1.large and ordinary. For- mula, 3 (24) 1765. This is the normal form; one showed antenna 8-jointed, 4 longest, 3 and 2 equal, 5, 6,7 short; 8 longer than 5, 6, or 7, but shorter than 2. Legs ordinary; tibia a little shorter than femur; tarsus decidedly shorter than tibia; tarsal knobbed hairs and digitules filiform. Anal plates extremely small; their externo-cephalad sides longer © than their externo-caudad. Derm tessellate, the plates mostly hexagonal; gland- spots as in other species. ‘The eggs found under a female are slightly tinged with pink. As Dr. Lintner observed, the scales when removed from the twig leave a curious and pretty pattern of white secretion, consisting of an oval outline, an abdominal patch, and lines indicating the lateral incisions. With Dr. Lintner’s specimens are some male seales, which are as usual] in the genus. Now, what are we to call this Lecanium received from Mr. Fletcher and Dr. Lintner? Putting aside persice, which I am now convinced it can not be, and jfitchii, on account of size, I turned for comparison to the European rubi. Mr. Douglas, in describing rubi, refers to the white markings of the females, which last until oviposition is completed. After that the scales become uniform nut-brown. Herein the species Shows resemblance to L. juglandis Bouché, with its disappearing yel- low marks. I have not seen the American blackberry scale in the ‘proper condition to say whether it has the markings as described by Mr. Douglas, but certainly on Dr. Lintner’s examples the dorsal band is obscurely indicated, and the transverse marks seem to have been more or less distinct. So far, therefore, the evidence is inconclusive 31 as to the markings on immature females of the American species. The size of the American species agrees well enough with that of LZ. rubi | but in the antenne we find tangible distinctions. Mr. Douglas clearly describes and figures the first joint as very short and the second much shorter than the third. The second is about as long as the fifth. In the American species, on the other hand, I find the first not very short, the second long and always considerably longer than the fifth. This, taken with the different locality, justifies us in considering the American scale distinct from L. rubi, at least so far as present infor- mation goes. Tt is hardly necessary to compare it with all the various American species, but it may suffice to say that I found myself obliged to con- clude it was L. fitchii cr anew species. The legs and antenne agree well enough with jitchii. It is especially to be noted that in those antennal characters by which our scale differs from rui it exactly agrees with fitchii. JL. fitchii was from Washington. Why is it not now known to us if the present species is not it? Is it likely that our brambles would support in the northeast United States two different species of indigenous Lecanium ? But how about the size? Signoret says, indeed, that it is the small- est species he knows; but he expressly states that his females had not yet formed eggs, and he speaks of the insect as flattened oval, with a dorsal keel. Does this not clearly show that he had to do with imma- ture examples, dead, and shriveled? Such being assumed, there is nothing in the account of jitchii which will not fit the specimens now under discussion. CONCLUSIONS, (1) So far as at present known all the Lecania of the Northeast States and Canada found on Rubus must be referred to L. fitchii Sign. (2) L. fitchii, so far as present evidence goes, must be held distinct from the European ZL. rubi Schr. (3) L. persicae, L. juglandis, L. fitchii, and L. rubi are allied species, but must be considered distinct. INSECTS INJURING DRUGS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS. By VERNON L. KELLOGG, Lawrence, Kans. Some jars of insect-infested drugs referred to me by the department of pharmacy of the University of Kansas led me to make a superficial examination of the drugs stored in glass, tin, wooden, and paper ves- sels in the store-rooms and laboratories of that department which resulted in noting the following drug-attackiug insects: Sitrodrepa panicea Linn.,attacking blue flag rhizome (ris versicolor), comfrey root (Symphytum officinale), dogbane root (Apocynum cannabi- a2 num), ginger rhizome (Zingiber officinale), marshmallow root (Althea officinalis), aniseseed (Pimpinella anisum), aconite tuber (Aconitum napel-— lus), musk root (Ferula sumbul), Indian turnip rhizome (Arum tri-— phyllum), belladonna root (A tropa belladonna), witch-hazel leaves (Ham- || amelis virginica), powdered coffee seed (Coffea arabica), wormwood || stems, flowers, and leaves (Absinthium sp.), thorn-apple leaves (Datura — stramonium), cantharides (Cantharis vesicatoria), and thirty other dif- | ferent drugs. Lasioderma serricorne Fab., attacking powdered ergot (Claviceps pur | pureda). | Ptinus brunneus Duft., attacking musk root (Ferula sumbul), ow dene | senna leaves (Cassia acutifolia), and powdered Jaborandi leaves ‘Pulo- | carpus pinnatifolius). | Silvanus surinamensis Linn., attacking almond meal(Amygdala dulcis). Silvanus advena Waltl., attacking aconite tuber (Aconitum napellus). | Silvanus sp., attacking aconite tuber (Aconitum napellus), ginseng — rhizome (Panax quinquefolium), henbane leaves (Hyoscyamus niger), — senega root (Polygala senega). Tenebrio obscurus Fab., attacking parsley root (Api um petroselinum). Paromalus sp., attacking powdered poke root (Phytolacca decandra). Anthrenus varius Fab., attacking powdered cramp bark ( Vebinn ies | prunifolium). | Atropos divinatoria Fab.,? attacking henbane leaves (Hyoscyamus — niger), and golden seal (Hydrastis canadensis). Lepisma saccharina Linn.,? attacking powdered mezereum bark (Daphne mezereum), and socratine aloes (Aloe socratina). The cosmopolitan and omnivorous little Sitrodrepa panicea was by far the most abundant and wide spread in the store-rooms. It is really a serious pest of stored drugs. In the case of the cantharides attacked by it the bodies of the cantharis beetles were completely riddled and broken. Of the thousands of bodies in the canister not one seemed to have been left unattacked. In many other instances the damage done to the drug was considerable. The remedy, other than preventing the ingress of the insects by using tight jars and canisters, is to expose the infested drug to the vapor of carbon bisulphide. The ease with which this may be done in the case of most drugs gives the druggist a feasible, effective, and almost universally applicable remedy. 33 THE SENSES OF INSECTS.* By C. V. RILry. Having thus dealt in a summary way with some of the structures and economies of the social insects, let us now consider their psycho- logical manifestations.t Of the five ordinary senses recognized in ourselves and most higher animals, insects have, beyond all doubt, the sense of sight, and there can be as little question that they possess the senses of touch, taste, smell, and hearing. Yet, save, perhaps, that of touch, none of these senses, as possessed by insects, can be strictly compared with our own, while there is the best of evidence that insects possess other senses which we do not, and that they have sense organs with which we have none to compare. He who tries to comprehend the mechanism of our own senses—the manner in which the subtler sensations are conveyed to the brain—will realize how little we know thereof after all that has been written. It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that authors should differ as to the nature of many of the sense organs of insects, or that there should be little or no absolute knowledge of the manner in which the senses act upon them. The solution of psychical problems may never, indeed, be obtained, so infinitely minute are the ultimate atoms of matter; and those who have given most attention to the sub- ject must echo the sentiment of Lubbock, that the principal impres- sion which the more recent works on the intelligence and senses of ani- mals leave on the mind is that we know very little, indeed, on the sub- ject. Wecan but empirically observe and experiment and draw con- clusions from well attested results. Sight.—Taking first the sense of sight, much has been written as to the picture which the compound eye of insects produces upon the brain or upon the nerve centers. Most insects which undergo complete metamorphoses possess in their adolescent states simple eyes or ocelli, and sometimes groups of them of varying size and in varying situa- tions. It is difficult, if not impossible, to demonstrate experimentally their efficiency as organs of sight; the probabilities are that they give but the faintest impres8ions, but otherwise act as do ourown. The fact that they are possessed only by larve which are exposed more or less fully to the light, while those larve which are endophytous, or otherwise hidden from light, generally lack them, is in itself proof that they perform the ordinary functions of sight, however low in degree. In the imago state the great majority of insects have their simple eyes in addition to the compound eyes. In many cases, however, the former are more or less covered with vestiture, which is another. evidence *From an address on Social Insects, as president of the Biological Society of Washington, delivered in the hall of Columbian University, January 29, 1894. tSee article by writer in INsecT LIFE, vol. v1, pp. 350-360. 84 that their function is of a low order, and lends weight to the view that | they are useful chiefly for near vision and in dark places. The com- pound eyes are prominent and adjustable in proportion as they are of | service to the species, as witness those of the common house-fly and of | the Libellulide or dragon-flies. It is obvious from the structure of these compound eyes that impressions through them must be very dif- ferent from those received through our own, and, in point of fact, the late experimental researches of Hickson, Plateau, Tocke and Lemmer- mann, Pankrath, Exner, and Viallanes practically established the fact that while insects are shortsighted and perceive stationary objects Fic. 10.—SENSORY ORGANS IN INSECTS: A, one element of eye of cockroach (after Grenacher) ; B, diagrammatic section of compound eye in insect (after Miall & Denny); ©, organs of smell in Melo- lontha (after Kraepelin); D, a, b, sense organs of abdominal appendages of Chrysopila; ¢c, smnall pit on terminal joint of palpus in Perla (after Packard); H, diagram of sensory ear of insect (after Miall & Denny); Ff, auditory apparatus of Meconema; a, fore tibia of this locust; 6, diagrammatic section through same (after Graber); G,auditory apparatus of Caloptenus, seen from inner side, showing tympanum, auditory nerve, terminal ganglion, stigma, and opening and closing muscle of same, as well as muscle of tympanum membrane (after Graber).—All very greatly enlarged. & 2 imperfectly, yet their compound eyes are better fitted than the verte- brate eye for apprehending objects set in relief or in motion, and are likewise keenly sensitive to color. So far as experiments have gone they show that insects have a keen color sense, though here again their sensations of color are different from those produced upon us. Thus, as Lubbock has shown, ants are very sensitive to. the ultra violet rays of the spectrum, which we can not perceive, though he was led to conclude that to the ant the gen- eral aspect of nature is presented in an aspect very different from that in which it appears to us. In reference to bees, the experiments of the same ‘uthor prove clearly that they have this sense of color 8) highly developed, as indeed might be expected when we consider the part they have played in thc development of flowers. While these experiments seem to show that blue is the bee’s favorite color, this does not accord with Albert Miiller’s experience in nature, nor-with the general experience of apiarians, who, if asked, would very generally agree that bees show a preference for white flowers. Touch.—The sense of touch is supposed to reside chiefly in the antenne or feelers, though it requires but the simplest observation to show that | with soft-bodied insects the sense resides in any portion of the body, very much as it does in other animals. In short, this is the one sense fp mR Casid 19) LSA = OF eS) ve OF) oy el Nel » See APN | eX A Sas of \ O'R Fy . \ RNY) y \ OL y YN \ 2 ae DS \ Fic. 11.—SENsoRY ORGANS IN InsEctTs: A, sensory pits on antenne of young wingless Aphis persice- niger (after Smith); B, organ of smell in May beetle (after Hauser); C, organ of smell in Vespa (after Hauser); D, sensory organs of Termes flavipes; a, tibial auditory organ; c¢, enlargement of same; b, sensory pits of tarsus (after Stokes); EH, organ of taste in maxille of Vespa vulgaris (after Will); F, organ of taste in labium of same insect (after Will); G, organ of smell in Caloptenus (after Hauser) ; H, sensory pilose depressions on tibia of Termes (after Stokes); J, terminal portion of antenne of Myrmica ruginodis; c, cork-shaped organs; s, outer sac; t, tube; w, posterior chamber (after Lubbock) ; K, longitudinal section through portion of flagellum of antennze of worker bee, showing sensory hairs and supposed olfactory organs (after Cheshire). All very greatly enlarged. which, in its manifestations, may be conceded to resemble our own. Yet it is evidently more specialized in the maxillary and labial palpi and the tongue than in the antenne in most insects. Taste.—Very little can be positively proved as to the sense of taste ininsects. Its existence may be confidently predicated from the acute discrimination which most monophagous species exercise in the choice of their food, and its location may be assumed to be the mouth or some of the special trophial organs which have no counterpart among verte- brates. Indeed, certain pits in the epipharynx of many mandibulate 36 - insects and in the ligula and the maxille of bees and wasps are con- ceded by the authorities to be gustatory. Smell_—That insects possess the power of smell is a matter of com- mon observation and has been experimentally proved. The many experiments of Lubbock upon ants left no doubt in his mind that the sense of smell is highly developed in them. Indeed, it is the acuteness of the sense of smell which attracts many insects so unerringly to given objects and which has led many persons to believe them sharp- sighted. Moreover, the innumerable glands and special organs for secreting odors furnish the strongest indirect proof of the same fact. Some of these, of which the osmaterium in Papilionid larve and the eversible glands in Parorgyia are conspicuous examples, are intended for protection against inimical insects or other animals; while others, possessed by one only of the sexes, are obviously intended to please or attract. A notable development of this kind is seen in the large gland on the hind legs of the males of some species of Hepialus, the gland being a modification of the tibia and sometimes involving the abortion of the tarsus, as in the European H. hectus L. and our own #. behrensi Stretch. The possession of odoriferous glands, in other words, implies the possession of olfactory organs. Yet there is among insects no one specialized olfactory organ as among vertebrates; for while there is con- clusive proof that this sense rests in the antennz with many insects, especially among Lepidoptera, there is good evidence that in some Hymenoptera it is localized in an ampulla at the base of the tongue, while Graber gives reasons for believing that in certain Orthoptera (Blattide) it is located in the anal cerci and the palpi. Hearing.—In regard to the sense of hearing the most casual experi- mentation will show (and general experience confirms it) that most insects, while keenly alive te the slightest movements or vibrations, are for the most part deaf to the sounds which affect us. That they have a sense of sound is equally certain, but its range is very differ- ent from ours. A sensitive flame arranged for Lubbock by the late Prof. Tyndall gave no response from ants, and a sensitive microphone arranged for him by Prof. Bell gave record of no other sound than the patter of feet in walking. But the most sensitive tests we can experi- mentally apply may be, and doubtless are, too gross to adjust them- selves to the finer sensibilities of such minute, active, and nervous creatures. There can be no question that insects not only produce sounds, but receive the impression of sounds entirely beyond our own range of perception, or, as Lubbock puts it, that ‘‘we can no more form an idea of than we should have been able to conceive red or green if the human race had been blind. The human ear is sensitive to vibrations reaching at the outside to 38,000 in a second. The sen- sation of red is produced when 470 millions of millions of vibrations enter the eye in a similar time; but between these two numbers vibra- tions produce on us only the sensation of heat. We have no especial 37 organ of sense adapted to them.” It is quite certain that ants do make sounds, and the sound-producing organs on some of the abdominal joints have been carefully described. The fact that so many insects have the power of producing sounds that are even audible to us is the best evidence that they possess auditory organs. These are, however, never vocal, but are situated upon various parts of the body or upon different members thereof. Special Sense and Sense Organs.—W hile from what has preceded it is somewhat difficult to compare the more obvious senses possessed by insects with our own, except perhaps in the sense of touch, it is, I repeat, just as obvious to the careful student of insect life that they possess special senses which it is difficult for us to comprehend. The Cc Fic. 12.—SoME ANTENN OF COLEOPTERA: a, Ludius; b, Corymbites; ¢, Prionocyphon; d, Acneus; e, Dendroides: f, Dineutes; g, Lachnosterna; h, Bolbocerus; i, Adranes (after LeConte and Horn).— All greatly enlarged. sense of direction, for instance,is very marked in the social Hymen- optera which we have been considering, and in this respect insects remind us of many of the lower vertebrates which have this sense much more strongly developed than we have. Indeed, they manifest more especially what has been referred to in man as a sixth sense, viz, a certain intuition which is essentially psychical, and which undoubtedly serves and acts to the advantage of thespecies as fully, perhaps, as any of theother senses. Lubbock demonstrated that au ant will recog- nize one of its own colony from among the individuals of another colony of the same species, and when we consider that the members of a colony number at times, not thousands, but hundreds of thousands, this remarkable power will be fully appreciated. 38 The neuter Termites are blind and can have no sense of light in their internal or subterranean burrowings ; yet they will undermine build- ings and pulverize various parts of elaborate furniture without once gnawing through to the surface, and those species which use clay will fill up their burrowings to strengthen the supports of structures which might otherwise fall and injure the insects or betray their work. The bat in a lighted room, though blinded as to sight, will fly in all direc- tions with such swiftness and infallible certainty of avoiding concussion or contact, that its feeling at a distance is practically incomprehensible to us. | The manner in which anything threatens its welfare thrills and agi- tates one of these insect communities, and causes every individual to act at once for the common good, has been noted by all observers, and is a good illustration in point. It may be likened to the manner in which the same conditions influence communities of other animals, including man. There areemergencies when intuitive feeling dispos- sesses reason, and every capable person seems blindly urged to definite he BN Re SMA} ISSN SNS Fic. 13.—Antenna of male Phengodes with portion of ray.—Greatly enlarged (original.) action for the protection of the community, regardless of consequence. The war cry of a nation is an example in point, and violations of other- wise just, but tedious, processes of law are under certain circumstances deemed justifiable. I shall never forget the emotion that influenced the citizens of Chicago the day following their great fire in 1871. Rea- Son, argument, judgment, were in abeyance. The quicker, intuitive © processes prevailed, and to meet lawlessness and the tendency to incen- diarism, every right-minded citizen was ready to do vigilant duty, regardless of personal interest, every incendiary being hanged to the nearest lamp-post without ado or delay. It was the universal and deep- seated instinct of self-preservation. Telepathy.—But however difficult it may be to define this intuitive sense which, while apparently combining some of the other senses, has many attributes peculiar to itself, and however difficult it may be for us to analyze the remarkable sense of direction, there can be no doubt that many insects possess the power of communicating at a distance, of which we can form some conception by what is known as telepathy inman. This power would seem to depend neither upon scent nor upon 39 hearing in the ordinary understanding of these senses, but rather on certain subtle vibrations as difficult for us to apprehend as is the exact nature of electricity. The fact that man can telegraphically transmit sound almost instantaneously around the globe, and that his very speech may be telephonically transmitted, as quickly as uttered, for thousands of miles may suggest something of this subtle power even though it furnish no explanation thereof. The power of sembling among certain moths, for instance, especially those of the family Bombycide, is well known to entomologists, and many remarkable instances are recorded. I am tempted to put on record for the first time an individual experience which very well illus- trates this power, aS on a number of occasions when I have narrated it most persons not familiar with the general facts have deemed it remarkable. In 1863 I obtained from the then Commissioner of Agriculture, Col. Capron, eggs of Samia cynthia, the Ailanthus silk- worm of Japan, which had been recently introduced by him. I was living on East Madison Street, in Chicago, at the time, a part of the city subsequently swept by the great fire and since entirely trans- formed. In the front yard, which (so commonly the case in the old Chicago days) was below the sidewalk, there grew two Ailanthus trees which were the cause of my sending for the aforesaid eggs. I had every reason to believe that there were no other eggs of this species received in any part of the country within hundreds of miles around. It seemed a good opportunity to test the power of this sembling, and after rearing a number of larve I carefully watched for the appearance of the first moths from the cocoons. I kept the first moths separate and confined a virgin female in an improvised wicker cage out of doors on one of the Ailanthus trees. On the same evening I took a male to the old Catholic cemetery on the north side, which is now a part of Lincoln Park, and let him loose, having previously tied a silk thread around the base of the abdomen to insure identification. The distance between the captive female and the released male was at least a mile and a half, and yet the next morning these two individuals were together. Now, in the moths of this family the male antenne are elaborately pectinate, the pectinations broad and each branch minutely hairy. (See Fig. 14, a.) These feelers vibrate incessantly, while in the female in which the feelers are less complex there is a similar movement con- nected with an intense vibration of the whole body and of the wings. There is, therefore, every reason to believe that the sense is in some way a vibratory sense, as, indeed, at base is true of all senses, and no one can study the wonderfully diversified structure of the antenne in insects, especially in males, as very well exemplified in some of the commoner gnats (see Fig. 14, d, e), without feeling that they have been developed in obedience to, and as a result of, some such subtle and intuitive power as this of telepathy. Every minute ramification of the 40 wonderfully delicate feelers of the male mosquito, in all probability, pulsates in response to the piping sounds which the female is known to produce, and doubtless through considerable distance. There is every justification for believing that all the. subtle cosmic forces involved in the generation and development of the highest are equally involved in the production and building up of the lowest of organisms, and that the complexing and compounding and specializa- tion of parts have gone on in every possible and conceivable direction, according to the species. The highly developed and delicate antenne in the male Chironomus, for instance, may be likened to an external brain, its ramifying fibers corresponding to the highly complicated Fic. 14.-SomE ANTENN# OF INSECTS: a, Telea polyphemus, male, X 3; b and c, tipof rays of same—still more enlarged; d, Chironomus X 6; e, section of same—still more enlarged (original.) processes that ramify from the nerve cells in the internal brains of higher animals, and responding in a somewhat similar way to external impressions. While having no sort of sympathy with the foolish notions that the spiritists proclaim, to edify or terrify the gullible and unscientific, 1 am just as much out of sympathy with that class of materialistic scientists who refuse to recognize that there may be and are subtle psychical phenomena beyond the reach of present experi- mental methods. The one class too readily assumes supernatural power toexplain abnormal phenomena; the other denies the abnormal, because it, likewise, is past our limited understanding. ‘Even now,” says William Crookes, who speaks with authority, “telegraphing without wires is possible within a radius of a few hundred yards,” and, in a teeta ae Al most interesting contribution to our present knowledge of vibratory motion and the possibilities of electricity, the same writer remarks: * The discovery of a received sensitive to one set of wave lengths and silent to others is even now partially accomplished. The buman eye is an instance supplied by nature of one which responds to the narrow range of electro-magnetic impulses between the three ten-millionths of a millimeter and the eight ten-millionths of a millimeter. It is not improbable that other sentient beings have organs of sense which do not respond to some or to any of the rays to which our eyes are sensitive, but are able to appreciate other vibrations to which we are blind. Such beings would practically be living in a different world from our own. Imagine, for instance, what idea we should form of surrounding objects were we endowed with eyes not sensitive to the ordinary rays of light, but sensitive to the vibrat.ons con- cerned in electric and magnetic phenomena. Glass and crystal would be among the most opaque of bodies. Metals would be more or less transparent, and a telegraph wire through the air would look like a long, narrow hole drilled through an imper- vious solid body. A dynamo in active work would resemble a conflagration, while a permanent magnet would realize the dreams of medieval mystics and become an everlasting lamp with no expenditure of energy or consumption of fuel. In some parts of the human brain may lurk an organ capable of trausmitting and receiving other electrical rays of wave lengths hitherto undetected by instrumental means. These may be instrumental in transmitting thought from one brain to anouser. ~*~ 7% >™ A NEW SPECIES OF PEZOTETTIX. By LAWRENCE BRUNER, Lincoln, Nebr. Among the locusts found most abundantly in the valley and hil. sides about Grand Junction, Colo., while on a trip to that region during the month of June, 1893, was an undescribed species of the genus Pezotettix. This locust bears some resemblance to Melanoplus turn- bulli Thos., but unlike that species has very short -and rounded tegmina. It resembles that species also in its food habits, seeming to confine its attention almost entirely to the various species of plants of the botanical family Chenopodiacee, which abound in the regions where it occurs, being particularly fond of the grease-wood (Sarcobates ver- micularis). 7 In my annual report as special agent of the Division of Entomology, published in Bulletin No. 52 of the Division, I have mentioned this insect as Pezotettix chenopodii. The following description is given: Pezotettix chenopodii n. sp. A compact, short-limbed species related to and having the general appearance of the Caloptenus turnbulli of Thomas. General color testaceous olive-gray with mark- ings of dark brown upon occiput, disk and sides of pronotum, sides of basal segment of abdomen and hind femora; the dark dorsal line of pronotum with a narrow paler one along its middle, as in the various species of Hesperotetlir. Hind tibie varying from pink to pale glaucous, usually the latter, with pale annulus near base. Head moderately large, eyes large but not prominent, separated above by the slightly sulcate depressed vertex, which is nearly as wide as the frontal costa; *Some Possibilities of Electricity.—Fortnightly Review, March, 1892. 42 latter of nearly equal width throughout, not prominent and but gently sulcate at the ocellus; occiput short and only gently elevated. Antenne slender, a little shorter than head and pronotum combined, the basal joint smaller than usual, orange colored. Pronotum smooth, gradually widen‘ng behind, without well-defined carine, the transverse grooves all very distinct and the border rather widely mar- gined throughout; hind margin broadly rounded. Tegmina small, lobate, their extremities reaching to the middle of second abdominal segment, and with their inner edges rather widely separated. Abdomen short, the sides but little com- pressed, the dorsal carina nearly obsolete, and the apex blunt, in the male gently enlarged and ending in a blunt upwardly directed point, as in Hesperotettix viridis Thos. Supra-anal plate of male abdomen triangular, quite broadly and deeply grooved on basal half and provided with a rather prominent carina on each side that extends from the outer basal angles to the apex of the mesial sulcus; marginal apophyses of preceding segment obliterated. Male cerci straight, rather wide and compressed at base, tapering rapidly to middle, from which point they are slender and finger like, directed slightly backward, inward, and upward. Valves of the ovipositor short, slender, their apices strongly hooked, the basal tooth of lower pair quite large and triangular. Posterior femora rather heavy, reaching the tip of abdomen in both sexes. Prosternal spine rather heavy, short, pyramidal, a little transverse. Length of body.— g, 16™™, 2,20™™; of antenne, g, 5.5™™, 9,6.5™™; of pro- notum, 6, 4.25™™, 0 b.bmm: or tesmina, (4, oa" 2) 40 ot phind | femoraad. oe Q; 10mm, Habitat: This insect was collected by me at Grand Junction, Colo., — where it was present in very large numbers during the month of June. It seemed to be confined in its distribution chiefly to the grease-wood clusters, and was known by the popular name of grease-wood hopper. According to the method employed and the characters used by Carl Brunner von Wattenwyl in his recent work entitled ‘“* Révision du Systeme des Orthopteres,” this insect would naturally fall into the genus Hesperotettix of Scudder; but, since it has been the custom of American writers prior to this to place all short-winged acridians in the genus Pezotettix, I shall follow this custom here. It is quite evident, however, that this group will very shortly have to be revised for the entire country. This should certainly be done, because it is a very extensive one, there being fully 200 distinct species in North America alone, all more or less destructive in their food-habits. Many of them are also confined, like the present species, to special food plants. A MARITIME SPECIES OF COCCIDE. By T. D. A. COCKERELL, Las Cruces, N. Mex. Ripersia maritima CkEll., n.sp. Female about 14™™ long, plump, elongate-oval, naked, pure white, segmentation distinct, legs and antenne slightly brownish. When boiled in caustic soda the female turns bright yellow—a curious reaction. Antenne 6-jointed; 6 longest, a little longer than 4 and 5; 3 and 1 about equal; 2, 4, and 5 subequal and shortest. Formula 6 (13) (245). Each joint emits a few hairs; the sixth several. The antenunz are very small and short, and placed extremely close to one another, as in &. rumicis. Derm with numerous but scattered short hairs, and round gland-spots. 43 Mentum apparently triarticulate, the last joint beset with 8, the penultimate with 2 short hairs. Femur decidedly longer than tibia, but femur and trochanter decidedly shorter . than tibia and tarsus. Trochanter with a long hairat its proximalend. Tibia with several bristles or spines, three on the outer side and three near the distal end on the inner aspect. Tarsus about as long as tibia, and with about four long bristles orspines. The tarsus rapidly narrows almost to a point, and on the end of it is a remarkably long, almost straight, claw. Rostral loop not quite reaching to level of insertion of middle legs. Anogenital ring with six large hairs. External to the insertion of the hairs is a ring of oval marks, about 18 in number. Posterior tubercles rounded and indistinct, each bearing a bristle, not so long as one of the bristles of anogenital ring. Habitat: Hempstead Harbor, Long Island. On roots of Spartina between tide-marks. This is the first Ripersia described from this side of the world. The species hitherto known are R. corynephori Sign., R. pulveraria Newst., R. subterranea Newst., R. fraxini Newst., and &. tomlinii Newst., from Europe; fk. leptosperma Mask., from Australia, and Rk. formicicola Mask., R. rumicis Mask., and R. fagi Mask., from New Zealand. Of all these species none bear any very close resemblance to the present one, except R. rumicis, which was found amongst roots of Rumex acetosellain New Zealand. R. rumicis may be distinguished from R. maritima by the color and by the relative dengihe of some of the antennal joints. The idea of a maritime Coccid was a very old one, long thought to be exploded. Coccus zostere Fab. was described as living on Zostera in the Baltic. That this should be a Coccid is doubtless impossible, and either the habitati wrong or it is something else, possibly a spe- cies of Chiton. Much later Coceus halophilus Hardy was imperfectly described from British specimens. It was found at the roots of Ligusticum, Rhodiola and Statice, on rocks by the sea. Like our insect it is white, but it is not properly a maritime species. The first genuinely maritime Coccid was described in 1883 by Prof. Comstock. This, Chionaspis spartine, was collected by Prof. W. Trelease on Spartina at Woods Holl, Mass. The plants were com- monly submerged at high tide nearly up to the insects, which were themselves drenched with the salt spray. In Ripersia maritima we have the most extreme case known, for the insects are entirely submerged at high tide. The conditions under which this species exists are so peculiar and of such great interest, that I have asked Mr. Nathan Banks, who discov- ered the insect, to append below a full account of the facts as observed by him: ‘The interesting marine Coccid described above by Prof. Cockerell is found very abundantly in some localities on the shore near Sea Cliff. tt At Sea Cliff the shore is sandy and often quite stony. Here and there are patches of salt grass (Spartina) growing between tide-marks, — but always nearer to the high than to the low water marks. In muddy | places sometimes whole acres are covered by the grass. The tide here rises seven feet, and the roots of the lowest patches of salt grass || are, at ordinary high-tides, covered by about three feet of water. Such — a patch would be covered for about two and a half or three hours twice a day. The roots form a sod, and embedded in the sod is a common mussel (Modiola plicatula); Melampus bidentatus and species of Lit- torinea are common, and barnacles and seaweed grow on the stones in thesod. Fiddlercrabs (Gelasimus) dig their holes here. Severalinsects - and arachnids are quite common, such as Anurida maritima, an Antho- myilid tly, a Curculionid, a species of Bembidium, Bdella marina, Chel- anops tristis, and several undescribed mites. “The soilis thoroughly drenched with salt water, and in it are various marine worms (Nereis, Halodrillus, etc.). The Coccid was first discov- ered in April, 1894, on the roots of a patch of salt grass which at high tide is covered by about two feet of water. They were usually in little cavities, sometimes hundreds grouped together. They are from one to two inches below the surface, sometimes just under loose stones. An undescribed species of Trombidium preys upon them. Later I found that it occurred in some very large salt meadows near Glen Cove, near Glenwood and at Roslyn. I have examined the roots of a closely allied grass which grows sparsely above high water, but found no Coccids on them. “The bay on which Sea Cliff, Glen Cove, Glenwood, and Roslyn are situated is known as Hempstead Harbor, and it is a branch of Long Island Sound. The bay at this point is a mile wide. ‘‘The salt grass is used by clam diggers and fishermen to thatch out- houses, for bedding, packing clams, fish, ete.” NATHAN BANKS. AN ABNORMAL TIGER SWALLOW-TAIL. By L. O. Howarp. The Division has been in correspondence during the past winter with Mr. W. A. Harshbarger, of Washburn College, Topeka, Kans., con- cerning an extraordinary specimen of the common tiger swallow-tail (Papilio turnus=Jasoniades glaucus) which he reared from the larva last summer, and Mr. Harshbarger was finally good enough to send us the Specimen, which we have had figured both in colors and in black and white and present the illustrations herewith. The specimen was reared from a larva given to Mr. Harshbarger by some non-entomological acquaintance. It was kept for a short time in a bottle of water, but in spite of this half drowning transformed to chrysalis and eventually - issued as an adult. Mr. Harshbarger states that he saw during the 45 season of 1893 several specimens of the variety glaucus which were curiously splotched with yellow, and is inclined to attribute this ten- dency to variation to the comparative drought which characterized the | summer in Kansas. The insect most nearly resembles the black form of glaucus. The wings of the left side are black in general coloring. The primary of the right side is also black, while the secondary of the same side is a bright and beautiful male wing, the yellow being normal in all respects except that the four spots on the outer border are narrower than in the normal male. The three dark wings are curiously and irregularly splotched with yellow, as indicated in the figure. The tails of the two hind-wings Fic. 15—Papilio turnus var. glaucus: aberrant adult, upper surface—natural size (original). are different in shape, that of the right being the normal male tail and that of the left the normal female tail. The reéntering excision at the anal angle of the secondaries is more pronounced on the left wing than on the right, and the orange spot is larger. The orange spot on the upper and outer angle of the secondaries is present on the left wing, but is slightly smaller than the normal glaucus female, while on the right wing it is very minute and resembles that of the male. On the undersides of the wings the right secondary resembles the underside of the secondary of the yellow male, except that the wings are a little more deeply lined with black and above the black margin the orange is a little more conspicuous. The underside of the left secondary resembles in all respects the underside of the right, except that its 3615—No. 1 4 46 > yellow is not quite so bright. Both secondaries, however, would be taken from the underside for those of the male were it not for the different shape of the tails. The coloration of the body is male throughout with the single excep- tion that the yellow band which extends up both sides of the front. at the border of the eye is lacking on the left side, although occurring as usual in the male on the right side. The genitalia are male in type, but the internal organs of the right side are much smaller than those of the left side. There is a slight difference also in the antennae, the right antenna being a trifle smaller than the left. The structure of both, however, is female. Fie. 16— Papilio turnus var. glaucus: aberrant adult, under surface—natural size (orjginal). This remarkable insect has been most carefully studied. The scale coloration is perfectly normal, so far as can be judged by any compara- tively high power. Careful denuding of the base of the right secondary shows that there is no possibility of a fraud, i. e., that the insect is made up from two or more individuals. This does not seem to us to be a case of hermaphroditism. The insect is essentially male, but itis an extremely curious sport. It is” an aberrant male, imitating in some details the coloration of the female. Under the head of “variations and aberrations,” of this species, Scudder mentions the fact that he has seen a female from the White Mountains with the yellow of the upper surface, particularly of the lower half of the forewings, slightly tinged with an orange flush. 47 Other slight variations like these are mentioned, and he further states that he saw, many years ago, in some collection, an hermapbhro- ditic specimen from the South, in which the wings of the left side and the left half of the body were female of the glaucus variety, while the right half was male and normally yellow, the valves being developed only on the right side. This was perhaps the same individual figured by W. H. Edwards, and first described by him in the Transactions of the American Entomological Society (vol. 11, p. 207). GENERAL NOTES. A NEW APPLE-TREE ENEMY. We have received from Mr. Samuel E. Coleman, of Virginia, a number ‘of specimens of a large Pentatomid bug (brochymena annulata Fab.), recorded by Uhler as common to the Atlantic States, which Mr. Cole- man says attacked the new growth of his apple trees in the month of Fic. 17.—Brochymena annulata: adult; under surface shown at left—enlarged (original). May, pumping up sap from the tender wood, and which is known in his locality as the *‘ large chinch bug.” Many twigs and limbs were killed. We advised the kerosene-soap emulsion spray, and while we do not anticipate any great damage from the species, the record of the habit is sufficiently interesting to justify its publication. Thespecimensof this insect in the U.S. National Museum collection show that it oceurs in New York, District of Columbia, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Mis- souri,and Colorado. The adults have been found under old bark in mid- winter, and the eggs and young larve have been found upon pea-vines 48 and upon the willow. We figure the adult insect (Fig. 17) in order to enable its ready recognition should this destructive habit recur. THE BLACK AUSTRALIAN LADYBIRD IN CALIFORNIA. Complaints are being made in California, as we notice from the Rural Californian for May, that the black ladybird, Rhizobius ventralis, which was one of the late importationsfrom Australia, from which great results were expected in the destruction of noxious orchard scale-insects, has not been doing its duty in the orchards in which colonies were placed. The phraseology of the notice is as follows: ‘‘ The opinion was expressed at the meeting of the Pomological Society at Pasadena that the black ladybird was not showing up in the orchards in which colonies had been placed.” From this it might be supposed that they had not been seen this spring in the orchards in question. The Pacific Rural Press of July 21, 1894, however, quotes a statement made by Mr. T. N. Snow in the Santa Barbara Press as to the progress of this ladybird in the orchard of Mr. Ellwood Cooper, at Ellwood, Cal. According to this account a little more than two years ago 50 specimens of Rhizobius ventralis were placed in this orchard, where they multiplied So rapidly that in October, 1893, Quarantine Officer Alexander Craw was able to secure there over 500 colonies, numbering more than 10,000, for colonization in various parts of the State. On June 27, 1894, Mr. Craw, it is reported, again visited this orchard, and found not one black scale left of the army which had been there, the Rhizobius having made a pcrfect clearance. Mr. Craw is reported to have expressed to Mr. Snow his belief that by next November there would not be a black sealc remaining in Ellwood. THE GRAPE-VINE ROOT-WORM. In Newspaper Bulletin No. 140 of the Ohio Experiment Station Mr. F. M. Webster calls attention to the injury done to the roots of grape- vines about Cleveland by the larvee of the grape-vine root- worm (Fidia viticida). The larva of this insect, the adult of which has for many years been known as a leaf feeder upon the grape, has never been known with certainty. It has been suspected that it feeds upon the roots, but Mr. Webster is the first to prove this point and to rear the adult from the larva. The experiments which he has made show that the larve are readily killed by a very small amount of bisulphide of car- bon, while the beetles may be readily destroyed with the arsenites. AN INVASION OF THE “FEATHERED GOTHIC” MOTH IN NORTHERN FRANCE. Dr. P. Marchal has an interesting note on the ‘feathered Gothic” moth (Heliophobus popularis) in the Bulletin of the Entomological Soci- ety of France, which he read at the meeting of June 13, 1894. Under a commission from the Ministry of Agriculture he visited the infested 49 region, which is on the borders of the Departments of the North and the Aisne, and found that the insects occupied a plateau which had | recently been cleared of trees. The larve marched in great hordes, very much as the army worm (Leucania unipuncta) does in the United States, or the antler moth (Chareas graminis) in northern Europe. Dr. Marchal ascribes the exceptional multiplication of the species to the unusually warm and dry season of 1893. The invasion was fought by means of ditches dug in front of the advancing army of caterpillars, large quantities of which were thus captured and carried off in sacks by the peasants, who made compost of them with liquid manure. Among the numerous insecticides tried sulphate of ammonia diluted with liquid manure and sprinkled upon the infested spots was the only one which gave satisfactory results. TAXONOMIC VALUE OF THE SCALES OF LEPIDOPTERA. In the Kansas University Quarterly for July, 1894, Mr. V. L. Kellogg publishes an important paper under the above title in which lie gives the results of investigations announced by Prof. J. H. Comstock, in his paper on “ Evolution and Taxonomy,” which was reviewed in No. 5 of the present volume of INSEcT LIFE. Mr. Kellogg has given us a very careful résumé of previous researches in regard to the structure and office of the scales of Lepidoptera, and concludes that the most gener- alized scale is the small hair without specialized insertion, while the most specialized scale is the broadened toothed form with a pedicel and a cup-shaped insertion on the surface of the wing. He applies the prin- ciple laid down by Comstock in his consideration of venation and shape of wing, and finds that his results coincide practically with the taxo- nomic conclusions reached by Prof. Comstock. The suborder Jugate is confirmed by his researches, since he finds upon the wings of Microp- teryx and Hepialus, in addition to numerous specialized scales, a cov- ering of very fine hairs differing radically from the scales in size, arrangement, and mode of attachment to the membrane, and agreeing essentially with the fixed hairs of the Trichoptera. These hairs are absent in the insects of the suborder Frenate. The high specialization of the true scales in the Jugate he considers does not indicate a high rank for thesesinsects, but is merely corroborative of the presumption that they are the existing tips of branches whose lower members have disappeared. He believes that the stem form of Lepidoptera possessed wing-clothing much like that now exhibited by the Trichoptera and that the Jugate branched off before the covering of fine hairs had been lost, although the tendency to specialization had become already mani- fest. He discusses further the color of the scales and their peculiar differentiations, including specializations into androconia, applying his conclusions taxonomically in connection with Prof. Comstock’s discoy- eries. The details of his examinations of the insects of several families follow. A somewhat confusing statement is made upon page 77, where 50 Mr. Kellogg advances the theory that when the odors can not be made ~ out in the case of certain androconia the fact is probably due to the — limitations of the human ear! DEATH WEB OF YOUNG TROUT. Many years ago one of the numbers of the American Entomologist contained an article under this caption, in which attention was called to the destruction of young trout in fish hatcheries by the larval web of Simulium (the “black fly”). Our attention has only recently been called again to this matter by the Hon. Marshall McDonald, U.S. Com- missioner of Fisheries, who has sent us a report from Mr. K. M. Robin- son, superintendent of the fish hatcheries at Green Lake, Me., stating that at the time when the young salmon were hatching in the troughs, the larve of Simulium appeared in large numbers. Any considerable — number, as Mr. Robinson wrote, in a hatching trough will, in one night, fill it almost entirely full of fine web. The web sometimes gets around the neck of one of the fry and chokes it todeath. The Simulium larve were accompanied by specimens of one of their great enemies of the genus Hydropsyche, and these Hydropsyche larvee were reported by Mr. Robinson to feed upon dead fish, after they had been killed by the web of the Simulium. This seems to be a perversion of habit on the part of the Hydropsyche, and a most unfortunate one, as it diverted them from their normal and beneficial habit of preying upon the Simulium. Damage of this kind is only possible when the fish are just hatching, as a few weeks later the fish themselves feed upon the Simulium larve and practically turn the tables. POLLINIA COSTA IN CALIFORNIA. In the Annual Report of the Department for 1892, Prof. Riley an- nounced the appearance of a peculiar olive scale, well known in south Europe, upon a few olive trees in the vicinity of Los Angeles. This scale had been described by Prof. Targioni-Tozzetti as Pollinia costa, and as it is a very difficult one to destroy, its immediate eradication by burning was urged. We learn from the Rural Californian of May, 1894, that, although the insect was supposed to have been destroyed, it has recently been discovered by the State quarantine officer, Mr. Alex- ander Craw. Fortunately it seems to have spread but little during the past two years, and heroic measures have been taken to stamp it out. Orcus chalybeus was reported to have been seen devouring this scale, but it was stated later that this was a mistake, A PREDICTION VERIFIED. A person signing the initials “J. C. H. S.” wrote from Sedgwick County, Kans., in 1882 to the Prairie Farmer in regard to rainfall and the chinch bug, showing from records which he had kept that at the end of six and seven year periods comes a severe drought with chineh 51 bugs. He claimed that the records back to 1834 verified his theory, and the chain of drought and chinch bug years he gave as 1834, 1841, 1847, 1854, 1861, 1867, 1874, and 1881. Following this supposed law, he predicted chinch bugs in 1887, and, as the writer showed in Bulletin 17 of the Division of Entomology, his prediction was verified. The year 1894, coming at the end of the following septenary period, has also verified the supposed law of this unknown writer. He claims that the rainfall increases from each drought year up to the third or fourth year, and then decreases. The chinch bugs increase as the drought increases, reach their climax in the climax drought year, and are killed off by the heavy rainfalls of the following spring. THE LEAF-FOOTED BUG ATTACKING PLUMS. We are very much interested in a recent letter from Prof. Rk. H. Price, of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, which is accom- panied by specimens of the leaf-footed bug (Leptoglossus phyllopus), and in which he states that these bugs have done considerable damage to plums during the last two years, injuring them, in fact, more than the plum cureulio. The bugs puncture the buds for food, and the fruit becomes knotty. It will be remembered that Mr. Hubbard, in his ‘‘Report upon Insects Affecting the Orange,” describes a similar habit on the part of this insect in the orange groves of Florida. Mr. Hub- bard ascertained that the normal food-plant of the insect was a large thistle which grows commonly through the South, and he states that both young and old are frequently found in large numbers upon the head of this thistle. We have urged Prof. Price to search for this plant in the vicinity of the plum trees, and if found to destroy the bugs upon it with pure kerosene. The thistle may be used as a trap crop for this purpose. IS ICERYA AN AUSTRALIAN GENUS? In a paper just received from Mr. W. M. Maskell, entitled ** Further Coccid Notes,” from the Transactions of the New Zealand Institute for 1893, the author shows that Lcerya wegyptiacum (Dougl.) has been received by him from Mr. Froggatt, taken in Sydney on Goodenia ovata, and J. rose RK. & H. from the same locality on Hakea gibbosa. The latter he describes as ‘var australis,” since it differs slightly from the typical specimens described by Professor Riley and the writer from Key West, Fla. He says, in conclusion, “the question now arises whether Australia may not be the original home of all Iceryas. There is scarcely any doubt about I. purchasi; I. koebelei is certainly Austra- lian; J. wgyptiacum and I.rose are found there; J. montserratensis seems to be possibly a variety; I. seychellarum has as yet been reported on sugar-cane only from Mauritius, and J. palmeri on grape from Mex- ico; but even tiiese may, after all, turn out to be Australian also.” Sub- sequent facts may show Mr. Maskell to be right in this supposition, 52 but in our judgment J. montserratensis is a very distinct species from |} the others, and its occurrence only on the island of Montserrat and the ~ eastern side of the isthmus of Panama, as well as its probable oceur- || rence, mentioned in a previous number of INSECT LIFE, in British Guiana, certainly indicate no probability that it originally inhabited Australia. Jcerya palmeri has as yet been found only in Mexico and New Mexico, while it may be doubted whether the Australian variety of I. rose is nota distinet species. The present positive evidence places four species as Australian, one as Mauritian, and three as inhabiting tropical and subtropical America. IS THE AZALEA SCALE INDIGENOUS? On page 327 of the last number of INSECT LIFE we mentioned the occurrence of the azalea scale (Hriococcus azalew Comst.) upon azalea plants at the agricultural college in Michigan. We have since learned that, as we supposed at the time, the insects were found in the college © greenhouses. The natural habitat of this scale has never been ascer- tained, but from its occurrence hitherto only upon greenhouse speci- mens, it was supposed to have been introduced from abroad. Prof, Comstock, however, has recently written us that this species occurs commonly upon wild Azalea (Azalea nudiflora) in Coy’s Glen near Ithaca, N. Y., and far from any cultivated plant. This he believes indi- cates that the Eriococcus is a native species, A SWARM OF WINGED ANTS. Many large swarms of winged ants have been described in the works of travelers, but few are recorded in scientific literature. It will be interesting, therefore, to note that in a letter received about the close of August from Mr. A. H. Mackay, superintendent of education at Hal- ifax, Nova Scotia, an authentic account is given of such aswarm, which appeared in the form of a great cloud over the valley of the Kast River in the county of Pictou, N.S., on August 24. Mr. Mackay waites: According to one account, the cloud was dense enough on some occasions to inter- cept the light of thesun. They did not appear to alight until dead, when a very con- siderable quantity of them could be gathered off some portions of the ground or pathways. Soime said their bite was like that of a mosquito, but I have no other evidence of their ‘‘ biting.” They were visible for a whole afternoon—“ until 7 o'clock,” says one. Their course appeared to be moving along the valley of the river, which is not very large, quite fordable in the dry season in most places, the direction being from southwest to northeast. Nothing like it was seen in ‘“‘the recollection of the oldest inhabitant.” Their sudden genesis in such great numbers must be an interesting problem to the common people, as well as to the entomologist, as the sensation proves. Mr. Mackay sent specimens of the ants, which belonged to a species of Prenolepis, apparently parvula. 53 THE COTTONWOOD LEAF-BEETLE IN NEW YORK. The common cottonwood leaf-beetle of the western tree claims (Lina scripta), which has frequently done so much damage in the tar West by defoliating young trees, and old ones, too, for that matter, and which was treated at length by Prof. Riley in the Annual Report of this Department for 1885, has appeared in injurious numbers in Onondaga, Oswego, and Cayuga counties, N. Y., as we learn from an interesting article by Dr. J. A. Lintner, in the New England Homestead of July 26. It has appeared in the plantations of ozier willow, which grow in the Seneca River valley, and threatens this small but important industry. Dr. Lintner shows that the insect is readily killed by an .arsenical spray, which the character of the crop renders easy of application. RESIN WASH AGAINST THE GRAPE ASPIDIOTUS. On page 5 of the current number of INSECT LIFE we refer to the occurrence of Aspidiotus uve Comst. on grape-vines near Beltsville, Prince George County, Md. This vineyard was visited by Mr. B.S. Lull, then a member of the office force, in the late fall of 1893, who found that about two dozen vines were affected, and that two had been killed outright, while a number of the others were dead or dying. By his advice all the vines in the vineyard were sprayed once with winter resin wash, during the winter of 1893, while all those known to be affected were sprayed twice. The locality was visited by Mr. Coquil- lett on July 20, 1894, and after a careful examination he found that, to all appearances, the scale had been exterminated. NOTES FROM CORRESPONDENCE. A Scale Insect on Laurel Oak.—Mr. Louis A. Berckmans, of Augusta, Ga., sent us some time ago specimens of a Rhizococcus found upon what he called English Laurel. The tree, however, seems to be really a laurel oak, Quercus laurifolia, and the insect is Rhizococcus quercus Comst. Anthrenus varius feeding on a Comb.—Some time ago Mr. D. W. Coquillett sent us from California a larva of Anthrenus varius which he had confined in a bottle with a tooth from a horn comb. He reports having actually seen this larva feeding upon the tooth. This is the first recorded instance, so far as we know, of this food-habit of Anthrenus. Living Larve on Snow.—Mr. James Fletcher, Dominion Entomologist of Canada, sent us some time ago specimens of Tipulid larve which a correspondent of his had =f reported to be present in large number on the snow near Whitby, Ontario. These ) insects winter in the larval state, near the surface of the ground, and were probably tempted out by a warm day, when, the ground becoming hard again, they were unable to return to their winter quarters. In INsEecr LIFE (vol. Iv, p. 335) we have recorded other instances of living larve found on the surface of snow. Mud Wasps in Deserted Paper-wasps’ Nests.—Mr. C. F. Groth, a member of the New York Entomological Society, has recently sent us some interesting ento- - mological notes, and among other things mentions the occurrence of a species of 54 mud wasp in the deserted paper nests of Vespa maculata. One that he opened recently contained no less than nine mud-wasp cells, about one inch in length, in | the interior. ee Root Web-worm in Pennsylvania.—We have received from Mr. George C. Maule, | of Gum Tree, Pa., larve bearing the characteristic markings of the root web-worm, Crambus zeellus, with the statement that it is injurious to cornfields in his vicinity. On his own farm it occurred in a field which had lain two years in clover and | timothy. Ina neighbor’s field of the same age in rotation of crops four acres of corn were entirely destroyed. Our correspondent states that the worst affected fields are old timothy sod. The Horn Fly attacking Horses.—It will bo remembered that on page 344 of the last volume of INsEcr LIFE, we mentioned an instance of the horn fly attacking a horse at Cheyenne, Colo., and inquired if other correspondents had observed similar cases. Recently Mr. W. C. Brass, of Carlisle, Ark., has sent a large number of the true Hematobia serrata which he himself took from horses. Prof. R. H. Price, of the Texas Agricultural College, also writes that he has seen the flies on horses in both Virginia and Texas, but never in any great abundance. Flies in Seaweed.—Mr. Arthur H. Norton, of West Brook, Me., has sent us specimens of Celopa frigida Fall., a small fly of the family Phycodromidz with the information that it occurs abundantly in windrows of seaweed left by high tides on island shores. During the warmest part of the day they may be seen flying play- fully over their habitat. On being approached they crawl into the seaweed and are quick to hide “even when quitenumb.” Our correspondent was on an island during February, and the temperature averaged freezing during that time, the seaweed which the insects inhabited being frozen except at the surface exposed to the sun. ) Vol. VII, No. 2.] INSECT LIFE. Issued October, 1894. SIXTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE ASSOCIATION OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGISTS., MORNING SESSION, AUGUST 14, 1894. The Association met at 10 a. m., in room 12, of the Packer Institute, Brooklyn, N. Y., August 14, 1894. The following officers and members were present: President, L. O. Howard, Washington, D. C.; Vice-President, J. B. Smith, New Brunswick, N. J.; Acting Secretary, C. L. Marlatt, Wash- ington, D.C. Messrs. William H. Ashmead, Washington, D. C.; Geo. F. Atkinson, Ithaca, N. Y.; Nathan Banks, Sea Cliff; N. Y.; D. W. Coquillett, Washington, D. C.; Geo. C. Davis, Agricultural College, Mich.; A. D. Hopkins, Morgantown, W. Va.; Geo. H. Hudson, Platts- burg, N. Y.; J. A. Lintner, Albany, N. Y.; V. H. Lowe, Jamaica, N. Y.; F. W. Rane, Morgantown, W. Va.; William Saunders, Ottawa, Canada; E. B. Southwick, New York City; F. A. Sirrine, Jamiaca, N. Y. There were also in attendance upon the meetings visitors and members of other scientific associations, the average attendance being twenty-five persons. The Association was called to order by the President, and in the absence of the Secretary, Mr. Gillette, on motion of Mr. Lintner, Mr. C. L. Marlatt was elected Secretary for the meeting. The President, Mr. Howard, then delivered his annual address as follows: A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE RISE AND PRESENT CONDITION OF OFFICIAL ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY. By L. O. Howarp, Washington, D. C. When this Association was founded, in 1889, the name adopted was “The Association of Official Economic Entomologists,” and its objects aS outlined had evidently especial reference to the work of those eco- nomic entomologists who hold official positions. At the first annual meeting, held in Washington in November of the same year, Dr. Lint- 56 ner, with the evident idea of broadening the scope of the Association, introduced an amendment to drop the word “official” from the title, and this amendment was adopted at the meeting at Champaign, IL, the following year. Notwithstanding this fact, the membership of the Association is today largely official; out of 73 members 60 hold official positions, while the active work is all done by those with whom eco- nomic entomology is a means of subsistence. At the last meeting, that held in Rochester in August, 1893, every member registered belonged to the official class. The organization meeting at Toronto on the 30th of August, 1889, presented a strange contrast to this. It was held, as may not gener- ally be known, upon a wooded knoll at a landing called Scarborough Heights, overlooking the waters of Lake Erie. The beach below and the woods around were being scoured by industrious collectors of the old section F, of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Professor Cook, who presided, occupied a dignified position astride a fallen log. Dr. Smith, who acted as secretary, had climbed with difficulty tothe top ofa tall stump and took his minutes on his knee. Dr. Bethune, Mr. Fletcher, Mr. E. Baynes Reed, Mr. H. H. Lyman, Prof. C. W. Hargitt, Mr. E. P. Thompson, and the writer reclined with more or less grace, according to their physical conforma- tion, upon the ground or sat cross-legged upon convenient ant-hills. This group, which made the Association ‘ official” in name, was com- posed of four official entomologists and five who were simply interested workers. This brief historical paragraph is introduced for the purpose of show- ing the interesting paradox that this Association was originally made official by non-officials, that it was subsequently made non-official by officials, and that since it was made non-official it has become more official than before. It is in part for this reason that I have chosen to bring together for presentation at this meeting some account of the rise and present con- dition of official economic entomology, but more largely for the other reasons that few of us probably have been able to take a comprehensive view of the status of our application of entomology the world over, and that a review of what has been done can not but justify our existence aS a Class and as an association and afford the strongest of arguments for the increase of our numbers and for increase of means and facilities. The ravages of insects on cultivated plants were doubtless coetaneous with the beginning of the cultivation of plants. Thus a necessity for economic entomologists existed at a very early time. The condition of the ancient husbandman with reference to injurious insects is voiced by the prophet Joel, when he says: That which the palmer-worm hath left, hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the canker-worm eaten; and that which the canker-worm hath left hath the caterpillar eaten. * * * He hath laid my vine waste and 57 barked my fig tree; he hath made it clean bare and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white. * * * The field is wasted, the Jand mourneth. ~*~ * * Be ye ashamed, O, ye husbandmen; howl, O, ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley, because the harvest of the field is perished. In 1881, Dr. Hagen published, in the columns of the New Yorker Belletristisches Journal (August 16), an interesting article entitled ‘“‘Heuschrecken-Kommissionen im Mittelalter und heute,” in which he showed that grasshopper invasions have taken place since time imme- morial, and that man’s efforts to combat them have always ended in his discomfiture. It isnot surprising, therefore, says Dr. Hagen, that the helpless multitude called on the intervention of the law and of God to deliver them from such pests; and the legislators on one side and the priests on the other were forced to carry out the will of the people. But since written laws and legislative decrees against elemental plagues would have been ridiculous without a surrounding of imposing, legally regulated forms, the development of these formalities gradually reached a high degree of perfection. Legislation for defense against injurious animals reached its highest development in the Middle Ages. Legal procedures against all sorts of noxious animals were frequent, and the famous Burgundian legal light, Bartholomeus Chassanzus, wrote a book setting forth the rules according to which a suit against grasshoppers should be entered. After a court had been called together by written request, a judge was appointed and two lawyers were elected, one to plead the cause of the people and one the cause of the accused grass- hoppers. The former commenced by formulating the charge, and con- cluded by requesting that the grasshoppers be burned. The defend- ant’s lawyer replied that such arequest was illegal before the grasshop- pers had been requested in due form to leave the country. When, how- ever, they had not left the country after a stated term, they could be excommunicated. Many years afterward, another jurist, Hiob Ludolph, wrote a pamphlet antagonizing Chassanzus’ work, setting forth the lamentable legal ignorance displayed by thelatter. The accused grass- hoppers, said Ludolph, must be summoned four times before the court, and if they do not appear, then they should be dragged by force before the court. Then only can the suit proceed. Other interested parties, however, shall be heard, namely, the birds that feed on the grasshop- pers. Further, it would be a great injustice to banish the grasshoppers into adjacent territories. Finally, the code proposed by Chassaneus can never be brought into accordance with the laws and rules of the Church, because there is absolutely nothing in those laws about suits against grasshoppers. Several suits against injurious insects were brought before the courts, and the rulings have been preserved. In one case (1479) a suit was brought against injurious worms, apparently cutworms, in the canton of Berne, Switzerland. The worms, although ably defended, lost the suit, and were excommunicated by the archbishop and banished. Regarding the effect of thisawful punishment, the chronicler who relates 58 the story adds, ‘‘ No effect whatever resulted, evidently on account of the great depravity of the people.” In various other lawsuits the chroniclers fail to mention the final outcome; but, says Hagen, it is safe to surmise that in the whole history of jurisprudence there was never a greater disregard of the rulings of the courts on the part of the guilty parties than during the time of the medieval insect commis- sions. To attempt to enumerate the different commissions which have been established, particularly by European countries, against particular out- breaks of injurious insects, and especially against locusts, which have entered Europe from the south and from the west at intervals for many hundreds of years, would be impossible, and even if possible, would extend this paper far beyond its proper length. I shall be obliged, therefore, to neglect this phase of the subject, and confine myself rather to the history of the more prominent organizations of wider scope, and these I shall treat geographically and nme soe beginning with our own country. THE UNITED STATES. MASSACHUSETTS.—Dr. Thaddeus William Harris was probably the first American entomologist to receive public compensation for his labors, and in this sense he may be called the first of the official ento- mologists in this country. In 1831 he prepared a catalogue of insects, appended to Hitchcock’s Massachusetts Geological Report. ‘In the condition of American science at that day,” says Scudder, “it was a work of inestimable value, though his only material compensation was one copy of the report and several copies of the appendix.” Ata later period he was appointed by the State as one of a commission for a more thorough geological and botanical survey. In this capacity he prepared his now classic report on insects injurious to vegetation, first published in full in 1841, the portion upon beetles having appeared in 1838. He reprinted the work under the name “Treatise” instead of “Report” in 1842, and again, in revised form, in 1852. The whole sum received by him from the State for this labor was $175. After his death the work was reprinted by the Statein its present beautiful form, with wood engravings which themselves marked an epoch in that art. It is largely upon this work that Harris’ scientific reputation will rest, and, although prepared more than half a century ago, it is today per- haps above all other works the vade mecum of the working entomolo- gist who resides in the northeastern section of the country. From 1852 to 1870 Massachusetts did little or nothing in economic entomology. In the latter year, however, Dr. A. 8. Packard, Jr., then of Salem, was appointed entomologist to the State board of agricul- ture—without compensation, however, as heinforms me. Dr. Packard published three reports covering the years 1871, 1872, and 1873. They 59 were short pamphlets, but were ably prepared, and were undoubtedly productive of very considerable good. With the founding of the State Agricultural Experiment Station, | under the Hatch Act, Prof. C. H. Fernald, professor of zoology at the Massachusetts Agricultural College at Amherst, was appointed ento- mologist to the station. Prof. Fernald’s work has been practically like that of most other station entomologists, and he has published several important bulletins. The ones for which there has been the greatest demand are No. 5 on household pests, which was the outgrowth of eriginal studies which Prof. Fernald had made in this direction, and No. 12 containing the work upon the bud moth, spittle insects, and several other injurious species, all based upon original observation. The most important portion of his work has not yet been published. It comprehends the scientific results of his observaticns as entumo- logical adviser to the gypsy-moth committee of the State board of agri- culture. That these results will prove of great value the writer is in full position to assert, as he has had the pleasure of seeing many of Prof. Fernald’s experiments in the course of procedure, and has been greatly impressed by the ability and care with which they are being carried on. Prof. Fernald has also for some years held the position of entomologist to the State board of agriculture. The work upon the gypsy moth, by the way, which has been done by the State of Massachusetts since 1889 is one of the most remarkable pieces of work, judging by results, which has yet been done in economic entomology. The operations have been carried on by a committee of the State board of agriculture and the means have been furnished by large annual appropriations by the State legislature. Three hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars have already been appropriated. A territory comprising something over 100 square miles was infested by the insect, which occurred in such extraordinary numbers as to destroy many trees and almost to threaten the ultimate extinction of living veg- etation, not only within the infested territory, but in all localities to which it might spread. It is unnecessary to detail the steps by which relief was brought about. Mistakes were undoubtedly made at first, and it is to the work of the present committee that the main credit is due. The infested territory has been reduced by one-half, and within the districts in which the gypsy moth at present exists it is, practically speaking, a comparatively rare species. The future of the insect is, however, problematical. The continuance of sufficiently large appro- priations from the State legisJature to enable the work to be carried on on its present scale is doubtful, and yet those in charge believe that still larger appropriations are necessary to bring about extermination. They are confident, however, that with sufficient means the insect can be absolutely exterminated from the State of Massachusetts. With the legislature disinclined to continue the large appropriations, the methods of the committee at present pursued will have to be seriously altered. 60 Given a small appropriation of say $25,000 annually, it will become necessary to adopt some law, like that in force in California, whereby | much less frequent inspection may be made, and the committee will have | to rely in part upon voluntary observers for information. Moreover, they will be unable to conduct spraying operations upon a large scale, and the expense of the destruction of insects will have to be assessed upon the owners of the property upon which the insects are found, pro- vided such owners will not themselves undertake the destruction of the insects. There will be many disadvantages from such a course, and in the case of unproductive lands the expense will be so great that the owner will prefer confiscation. Between some such course as this and the continuance of the present methods, however, there seems to be lit- tle choice, since if the appropriation were taken away the insect will not only speedily reach its former destructive height, but will spread far and wide over the country. It may be urged that it will be only a few years before the insect will take its place as a naturalized member of our fauna and will become subject to the same variations of increase and decrease as our native species, and that it will, in fact, become lit- tle more to be feared than species already existing with us, particularly if its European natural enemies are introduced. Against this view, however, it must be urged that the gypsy moth seems an exceptionally hardy species and that even in [-uropeitis a prime pest. The caterpillar is tough and rugged and seems little subject to disease and to climatic drawbacks and is wonderfully resistant to the action of ordinary insec- ticides. The gypsy moth larva will feed for days without apparent injury upon trees which have been sprayed with Paris green or London purple in a solution so strong as to Somewhat burn the leaves. In fact, the committee, in the spraying which they are carrying on at present, have found it necessary to use arsenate of lead in as strong proportion as 10 pounds to 150 gallons of water. The well-known vitality of pre- viously introduced European injurious insects is apparently increased to a striking degree with this species, while the fact that it feeds on nearly all plants renders it a much more serious pest than any of its forerunners. Under these circumstances, therefore, any course other than an energetic and well-directed effort to keep the insect within its present boundary will be shortsighted in the extreme, although it is very doubtful to my mind whether absolute extermination will or can ever be brought about. NEw YorkK.—It is rather a stretch of the facts to classify Dr. Harris as an official entomologist. The first scientific man to receive a true official commission for the investigation of injurious insects was Dr. Asa Fitch, of Mew York. The New York State legislature, during its session of 1853~54, made an appropriation of $1,000 for an examination of insects, especially of those injurious to vegetation, and authorized the appointment of a suitable person to perform the work. The matter was placed in the hands of the New York State Agricultural Society, 61 and at a meeting of the executive committee of the society, held at the Astor House, in New York City, May 4, 1854, the following resolution was passed: Resolved, That Asa Fitch, M. D., of Washington County, be appointed to perform the work; that he be furnished with such accommodations as he may desire in the rooms appointed for the laboratory in charge of the society; and that the president and Mr. Johnson, the corresponding secretary, be a committee to prepare instruc- tions for such entomological examinations. Mr. William Kelly, at that time president of the New York State Agricultural Society, and Mr. B. F. Johnson, its corresponding secre- tary, performed their duties in the preparation of these instructions in ‘the most admirable manner. In fact, so well were they performed that we imagine Dr. Fitch himself may have drafted the report which was signed by these gentlemen. So far as we are aware, no subsequent appointment of an official entomologist has ever been accompanied by such a full, explicit, and able paper, and for this reason we quote it in full: As our State has had a thorough examination made of all branches of its natural history except its insects, it is of the highest importance that the remaining branch— not less in importance than the others—should receive attention. The committee feel assured that in the selection of Dr. Fitchthey havesecured a person every way competent to discharge the duties imposed in a manner creditable to thesociety and ‘the State. In carrying out this examination it is desirable that equal prominence be given to economical as well as to scientiiic entomology, that being the part of this science which is specially important to the community at large. It has beenobjected tothe volumes of the Natural History of the State that they are too purely scientific in their character to be of special value to the great mass of our citizens, and in the work now to be performed it is obvious that it will be of very little consequence to know that a particular kind of moth or fly is an inhabitant of this State unless we are also informed of its history and habits, and whether it is a depredator upon any sub- stance which is of valuetoman. The habits and instincts of our insects are a proper subject of inquiry as much as their names and the marks by which they are distin- guished from each other. The whole history of every noxious species should at least be traced ont as fully as circumstances will permit. 4 The examiner is therefore directed, in the first place, to make for the present sea- son the insects which infest our fruit trees the leading object of examination. Those infesting our forest trees, our grain and other crops, our garden vegetables, our ani- mals, etc., will remain to be studied hereafter. The examiner is desired in his examinations to search out every insect which is a depredator upon our apple, plum, pear, cherry, peach, and other fruit trees, and study out all the facts in the history of eachspecies, both in its larvaand in its perfect state, as far as he shall have oppor- tunity to doit. In this way a broad foundation will be laid, to which additions can be made which future observations may show to be necessary. Should any important insect depredator appear the present season in any other situation than upon the fruit trees, the opportunity for studying it should not be neglected, for the same species may not appear again in many years under circum- stances as favorable for becoming acquainted with its real history. Secondly, what time is not necessarily occupied in examining the insects infesting our fruit trees should be devoted to collecting and classifying the insects of the State, and to naming and describing such species as have not been described A report to be prepared at the end of the season, to be submitted to the legisla- ture, showing what has been accomplished during the season, to be divided into 62 | two parts. The first, upon economical entomology, giving an account of all that | has been ascertained respecting the insects infesting our fruit trees, and any other injurious species that may have been obtained. The second, upon scientific ento- | mology, giving a systematically arranged catalogue of all the insects of the gk | so far as they are known, with a brief description of such new and undescribed as may be discovered. The work should be pursued with a view of eventually securing to the State as full and complete accounts of all the insects of this State as far as to place this | important science (which is at the present so greatly in the background, and so | partially and imperfectly explored on this side of the Atlantic) in as perfect a position and as favorable a situation for being acquired as its nature will admit of. Should there be time, in addition tothe above, to perform other labor, it is desired— | Thirdly, that a commencement should be made in writing out full descriptions of | the species pertaining to some partcular order, with observations upon the time of | appearing, habits, etc., with a view of future publication, so.as to secure a complete | account of all the insects of the State pertaining to that order. | Lastly, suits of specimens to fully illustrate both the economical and scientific entomology of the State should be gathered in connection with the other parts of | this work, to be placed in the Cabinet of Natural History; and in¢he Agricultural | Museum specimens of the wood, leaves, and fruits; and other substances depre- dated upon by each and every species of our noxious insects, showing the galls or other excrescences which they occasion, the holes or burrows which they exca- vate, the webs or other coverings for themselves which they construct, with pre- | served specimens of the worms, caterpillars, etc., by which each of these deform- | ities is produced. | Such further examination as Dr. Fitch may deem necessary to carry out fully the objects desired to be accomplished, as from time to time may be deemed advisable, the committee desire may be made. WILLIAM KELLY, B. F. JOHNSON, Committee. Dr. Fitch, while not officially designated as State entomologist of New York, was always given this title by courtesy, and continued in office until 1871 or 1872, when his fourteenth report was published, and when the infirmities of age affected him to such an extent that he could no longer continue his investigations. The reports were published in the Transactions of the State Agricultural Society from 1854 to 1870, skipping the years 1859, 1865, and 1868. The first eleven have been published separately, as well as in the transactions of the society. In 1873, through an appropriation by the State legislature, provision was made for the revision and republication of the reports, and the revision was completed by Dr. Fitch. The resolution for printing, however, failed of the concurrence of the senate, and since that time the manuscript has been lost. ° The value of Dr. Fitch’s labors has been very great. In his fourteen reports the great majority of the injurious insects of the State of New York received more or less detailed consideration, and in the majority of cases the life histories of the insects treated were worked out with great care and detail. The remedial measures suggested by Dr. Fitch have, however, been largely improved upon, and the practical value of these reports today rests almost entirely upon the life-history side. 63 From the time of the publication of Dr. Fitch’s last report, in 1872, the State of New York did nothing for the encouragement of economic entomology until 1881, when the legislature, on April 14, passed an act to provide for the appointment of aState entomologist. The law reads as follows: No, 316.] STATE OF NEW YORK, In Senate, April 14, 1881. Introduced by Mr. Fowler; read twice and referred to the committee on finance; reported favorably from said committee and committed to the committee of the whole. AN ACT to provide for the appointment of a State entomologist and fixing his compensation. The People of the Stateof New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as Follows: SECTION 1. There shall be appointed by the governor a State entomologist, who shall be charged with the study of insects injurious to agriculture and of methods for controlling and preventing their depredations. P. 2. The salary of the entomologist shall be two thousand dollars, and he shall render an annual report of his labors and investigations to the legislature and shall arrange for the State museum of natural history a collection of insects taken in the course of his investigations. P. 3. This act shall take effect immediately. (Senate, No. 316.) (I. 520, G. O. 391.) (Chap. 377 of the Laws of 1881. Passed May 26, 1881, three-fifths being present. ) The movement which resulted in the passage of this law was started by the regents of the University of the State of New York at their annual meeting in 1877, and the person appointed to fill the office was Dr. J. A. Lintner, a well-known worker in entomology, who, up to that time, had been connected with the State Laboratory of Natural His- tory. Dr. Lintner has held office continuously since 1881. He brought to bear upon his duties a ripe experience and a mind trained in scien- tific methods. He has published nine reports, the last one covering the year 1892, and only recently distributed. These reports are in many respects models. The great care and thoroughness of the author have hardly been equaled by any other writer upon economic ento- mology. The form of. the reports is most admirable, and the account of each insect forms almost invariably a complete compendium of our knowledge concerning it down to the date of publication. His accounts are also arranged in the most convenient form for reference, a full bib- liography precedes the consideration of each species, and the frequent subheadings enable the most practical use of the report. The reports are replete with sound and ingenious practical suggestions, and are written in a straightforward, simple style, which possesses great lit- erary merit. They abound in illustrations, and are made available by most complete indices and tables of contents. Aside from these reports, Dr. Lintner has published a great deal in the newspapers, particularly the Country Gentleman, on the subject of economic entomology, and another valuable feature of his reports is the comprehensive list which he publishes each year of his unofficial writings. 64 The Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station was estab- | lished by the authorities of the university in 1879, and its first annual) report contained a series of miscellaneous entomological observations, by the acting professor of entomology, Dr. W.S. Barnard. The second | report, issued in 1883, contained an elaborate monograph of the. Diaspine by Prof. J. HL. Comstock, and an important article on the. Tineide infesting apple trees sy Mr. A. E. Brunn, a student of thell Department of Entomology. With the establishment of the agricul | tural experiment stations under the Hatch bill, in 1888, this experiment station became governmental in its character, and Prof. Comstock was naturally made entomologist. Since that date he, or his assistants,” have published a number of very important bulletins, the first one, on) A Sawfly Borer of Wheat, by Prof. Comstock ; the second on Wireworms, | by Prof. Comstock and his assistant, Mr. M. V. Slingerland, and the. later ones mainly by Mr. Slingerland. These are among the best and | most practical of the experiment station bulletins that we have. They are characterized by almost a superabundance of detail and plainly | by great care. The illustrations are very nearly all original, and are | excellent. THE U. 8S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.—AImost simultane- | ously with the appointment of Dr. Fitch to do entomological work for the State of New York, came the appointment of an entomological expert under the General Gee ae On June 14, 1854, Mr. Townend | Glover wasappointed by the Commissioner of Patents to collect statistics — and other information on seeds, fruits, and insects in the United States, under the Bureau of Agriculture of the Patent Office. Mr. Glover was one of the mosteccentric individuals who have ever done important work — on North American insects. He had led a roving and eventful life as a boy in Brazil, as aclerk in a draper’s shop in England, as an artist in Germany, as a roving traveler and naturalist in all parts of the United States, and finally as a landed proprietor with horticultural tastes on the banks of the Hudson in New York. Pomological inter- ests brought him to Washington shortly before the time when he received his appointment. His first report was published in the Rvport of the Commissioner of Patents for 1854, was illustrated by six plates engraved on stone by the author, and comprised some consideration of — the insects injurious to the cotton plant, wheat, and the grapevine, and | on the plum curculio, codling moth, and peach borer, closing with some account of the more common species of beneficial insects. His second report, in 1855, continued the consideration of cotton insects, together with some account of orange insects. Thereportsfor 1856 and 1857 con- tained nothing from him, but that for 1858 contains a rather ful! report on the insects frequenting orange trees in Florida, published over the initials D. J. B., which were those of the then chief clerk of the Bureau, with whom Mr. Glover had many serious disagreements, largely on the matter of credit, which resulted in his resignation the following year. In 65 1862 the Department of Agriculture was established as a separate insti- tution, under the commissionership of the Hon. Isaac Newton, and in 1863 Mr. Glover was appointed entomologist to the Department. His annual reports follow consecutively from 1863 to 1877, and are storehouses of interesting and important facts which are too little used by the working entomologists of today. Their value for ready refer- ence, however, is detracted from by a lack of systematic arrangement and poor paper and presswork, but many observations are to be found in the pages written by Glover which have subsequently been announced by others as original and important discoveries. There is, however, in Mr. Glover’s reports a lack of consecutive and full treatment of any one topic, and the subject of remedies seems seldom to have received original treatment or thought with him. Thisis largely due to the fact that his reports were mattersof secondary importance to him, his main energies being devoted to the building up of a museum for the Depart- ment and to the preparation of his most elaborate series of illustrations of North American insects, a work upon which he expended enormous labor, and which unfortunately, up to the present time, has added to his fame nothing but the good opinion of a few of his scientific contem- poraries. In 1877 Mr. Glover’s health suddenly failed him. His report for that year was largely prepared by his able assistant, Mr. Charles Richards Dodge, who, by the way, is the author of the charmingly written account of Mr. Glover’s life, published as Bulletin 18 of the Division of Ento. mology of the Department of Agriculture. Mr. Glover lived for several vears afterwards, but was unable to do further work. He died in Balti- more in 1883, and the writer and Profs. Uhler and Riley were the only entomologists present at the funeral services of this, in many respects, remarkable man. The year 1878 marked a new erain governmental entomological work. Prof. C. V. Riley, a comparatively young man, who had already become famous by the admirable work which he had done as entomologist of the State of Missouri, and as chief of the U. 8S. Entomological Commis- sion, was that year appointed successor to Mr. Glover by the Hon. Wil- liam G. Le Duc, then Commissioner of Agriculture. Prof. Riley took hold of his work with his accustomed vigor, and, during the nine months that he remained in office at that time, accomplished a great deal. His report for the year 1878, though short, is by far the most practical one which the Department had published up to that time. On accountof a misunderstanding with the Commissioner, Prof. Riley resigned his com- mission in May, 1879, and Prof. J. H. Comstock, of Cornell University, was appointed in hisstead. Prof.Comstock remained in office until May, 1881. He completed the investigation of the cotton worm, begun by Prof. Riley,and published a thoroughly practical and useful volume entitled Report upon Cotton Insects, early in 1880. In addition to this report he published extensive annual reports covering the years 1879 66 and 1880, which rival in thoroughness and practicality the Missouri reports of Prof. Riley and those which were issued by the Department after his resignation. The report for 1880 is marked by the publication — of the results of a preliminary investigation of the insects affecting the orange, and more especially by an elaborate report upon scale insects, which formed the basis of the study of this important and very © destructive group of insects in this country. Upon the change of — administration in 1881, Prof. Comstock was retired, with a year’s com-— mission as investigator, and Prof. Riley resumed charge of the govern- mental entomological work. From that time until June, 1894, Prof. | Riley remained consecutively in office. The work which he has accom- ~ plished has been of the highest order, and has been largely instrumental — in placing the science of economic entomology in this country upon its — present sound footing. During the course of his administration of the — office he has published 12 annual reports, 31 bulletins, 2 special reports, — 6 volumes of the periodical bulletin INSEcT LIFE, and a large number — of circulars of information. He has developed not only the scientific side of the work, but also the practical side. Under his direction advances have been made both in insecticides and insecticide machinery, which are of the most far-reaching importance. The earlier work of Prof. Riley will be mentioned in another place, but it will be appropri- ate to state here that no other name in the annals of North American economic entomology stands out with the same prominence as his. His work has been called epoch making, and this expression may be con- sidered justified. His voluntary resignation at this time would be greatly to be deplored, were it not for the fact that, with the restora- tion of his health, which is confidently to be anticipated, he will resume his labors—in another capacity, it is true, but along entomological lines and with undiminished vigor. Aside from the work of the Division of Entomology, the Gen- eral Government has, upon one occasion only, provided for work in economic entomology,-as have so many other governments, by thé appointment of a special commission. The U.S. Entomological Com- mission was founded, by authorization of an act of Congress approved March 3, 1877, specifically to report upon the depredations of the Rocky Mountain locust in the Western States and Territories and the best practical method of preventing its recurrence, or guarding against its invasions. The commission was attached to the U. 8S. Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories under the charge of Prof. F. V. Hayden, and the office of chief was filled by the appointment of Prof. C. V. Riley by the Hon. Carl Schurz, then Secretary of the Interior. The other members of the commission, also appointed by the honorable Secretary of the Interior, upon consultation with Prof. Riley, were Dr. A. S. Packard, jr., of Massachusetts, secretary, and Prof. Cyrus Thomas, of Illinois. The commission remained in existence, supported by annual appropriations by Congress of varying amounts, 67 until 1881. It published 5 reports and 7 bulletins. The first two of the annual reports related to the Rocky Mountain locust and allied migratory locusts, and form together probably the most complete mono- graph of any one insect ever published. The practical end was kept constantly in view, and the reports are thoroughly practical, as well as thoroughly scientific. In the appropriations for the year 1879 the commission was instructed to report upon cotton insects, and the results of the investigation thus brought about are published in the fourth report of the commission on the cotton worm and boll worm—another elaborate volume which can not be too highly praised from all stand- points. The third report treats of a variety of topics and includes two important monographs, one upon the army worm and the other upon canker worms, while the fifth report contains a full and comparatively exhaustive treatment of the subject of the insects injurious to forest and shade trees. The first, second, and third reports are published under the joint authorship of the three commissioners, the fourth under the sole authorship of Prof. Riley, and the fifth under the sole author- ship of Dr. Packard. ILLINoIs.—During the regular session of the legislature of Lllinois, in the winter of 1866-67, a law was passed enacting that a State ento- mologist shall, ‘‘by and with the consent of the senate, be appointed by the governor, with a salary of $2,000 per annum, for a period of two years, or until his successor is appointed and qualified.” This legisla- tion was the result of a petition from the State Horticultural Society, and on May 21, 1867, the society passed the following resolution: That the president of the society be authorized to engage B. D. Walsh to immedi- ately commence entomological investigations in relation to horticulture, and be empowered to pay out for that purpose a sum not exceeding $500 from the legislative appropriation. This action is taken in case of the failure to appoint. At a special session of the legislature held in June, 1877, the gov- ernor sent inthe name of Mr. Walsh for confirmation, but the senate post- poned action upon it until the next regular biennial session in the winter of 1868-69. Hence it follows that Mr. Walsh’s first and only report was published as acting State entomologist, his untimely death occur- ring before his second report was prepared, its preparation having been delayed by a long period of ill health which preceded the railway acci- dent which was the immediate cause of his demise. Mr. Walsh was a. retired farmer and lumber dealer of English university training, who for a number of years prior to his appointment had been industriously studying entomology and had written largely for the agricultural press upon the subject of injurious insects. Although not a naturalist by training, his work showed extraordinary powers of observation, and his published writings, as well as the statements of his contemporaries, indicate that he possessed a remarkable mind. In this connection. however, we have occasion to speak only of his official work as indi- cated in his one report. In this report, which is now unfortunately 5216—No. 2 2 68 very rare, he treated particularly of the insects affecting the grape, the apple, and the plum, and to this added, under the head of ‘Insects affecting garden crops generally,” a chapter on the so-called “hateful grasshopper,” or migratory locust, Caloptenus spretus. His treatment of the other insects is very thorough and his work in large part remains standard today. Mr. Walsh’s successor, Dr. William LeBaron, a practicing physician of Geneva, IIl., well known for his writings on injurious insects in the agricultural journals of the time, and an able and conscientious ento- mologist, published four reports as appendices to the Transactions of the State Horticultural Society, from 1871 to 1874. The first three treated of miscellaneous insects, mainly those injurious to fruit and fruit trees, while his fourth report and part of his third consisted of the begin- ning of a work entitled Outlines of Entomology, of which he completed only the order Coleoptera. This portion, however, was executed in the most scientific manner, and was fully illustrated, largely by original drawings by Prof. Riley. It has since been used to some extent in the class room, and has undoubtedly been the means of interesting many students in the subject of entomology. Dr. LeBaron’s treatment of insects from the economic standpoint was careful and practical. He records in his first report the first successful experiment in the trans- portation of parasites of an injurious species from one locality to another, and in his second report recommended the use of Paris green against the canker worm on apple trees, the legitimate outcome from which has been the extensive use of the same substance against the codling moth, which may safely be called one of the great discoveries in economic entomology of late years. Dr. LeBaron died in harness, I believe, and was succeeded in office by the Rey. Cyrus Thomas, of Carbondale, who published a series of six reports, extending over the years 1875 to 1880. Mr. Thomas at the time of his appointment was a well-known entomologist, who had written extensively for the Prairie Farmer and other agricultural newspapers on the subject of economic entomology, and who had published an elab- orate monograph of the Acridiide of the United States as one of the special volumes of the Hayden survey of the Territories. He started with his first report, a manual of economic entomology for the State of Illinois, including in this report the portion relating to the Coleoptera. In his second report his assistant, Mr. G. H. French, treated of the Lepidoptera, and in his third report Mr. Thomas treated the Hemiptera, monographing the Aphidide. His fourth report included a consider- ation of one family of the Orthoptera, namely, the Acridiidx, and the fifth a paper on the larve of Lepidoptera, by his assistant, Mr. D. W. Coquillett, while in his sixth he was obliged, from the force of cireum- stances, to abandon the scheme. The manual of economic entomology of Illinois remains, therefore, unfinished. In the course of the six reports a very large number of insects are treated from the economic ——— 69 standpoint. Mr. Thomas was able to employ several excellent assist- ants, and the six reports as a whole are very creditable to the State. The last of the six reports shows rather plainly the falling off in Mr, - Thomas’s interest in the subject of entomology. Its publication was coincident with the close of the work of the U. 8S. Entomological Com- mission, and if consists entirely of reports by Mr. D. W. Coquillett and Prof. G. H. French. After its publication Mr. Thomas transferred his labors to the field of ethnology, in which he had long been interested, and he is at the present time one of the able workers in the U.S. Bureau of Ethnology. Upon Mr. Thomas’s withdrawal from office, Prof. S. A. Forbes, diree- tor of the State Laboratory of Natural History at Normal, Ill., was appointed State entomologist, his commission dating July 3, 1882. Prof. Forbes’s attention had for some time been more or less engaged by questions relating to economic entomology. He has held office con- tinuously since that time, and has published six reports, the first one covering the remainder of the year 1882, the second the year 1883, the third the year 1884, the fourth the years 1885 and 1886, the fifth the years 1887 and 1888, and the sixth the years 1889 and 1890. Prof. Forbes’s reports are among the best which have been published. They are characterized by extreme care and by an originality of treatment which has seldom been equaled. The practical end is the one which he has kept mainly in view. His experiments with the arsenites against the codling moth and the plum curculio were the first careful. scientific experiments in this direction which were made, and his inves- tigations of the bacterial diseases of insects have placed him in the front rank of investigators in this line. His monographic treatment of the insects affecting the strawberry plant isa model of its kind, and the same may be said of his work upon the corn bill-bugs and of his studies of the chinch bug. In fact, whatever insect or group of insects has been the subject of his investigations, he has attacked the problem in a thoroughly original and eminently scientific and practical manner. Prof. Forbes has been able to command the services of avery able corps of assistants, including Messrs. C. M. Weed, H. Garman, F. M. Webster, John Marten, and C. A. Hart. MissouRI.—In the session of 186768 the legislature of Missouri passed an act establishing the office of State entomologist, and directed that the reports of this officer should be made to the State board of agri- culture. The first and only appointee to this position was Prof. C. V. Riley, who had at that time become prominentasan entomologist through his writings in the Prairie Farmer, of Chicago, with which paper he had been for some time connected, and through his editorship, in associa- tion with Mr. B. D. Walsh, of the American Entomologist, of which one volume had then been published. He entered upon his duties April 1, 1868, and published his first annual report in December of that year. From that date there followed annually eight additional reports, the ninth being submitted March 14, 1877, and covering the year 1876. 70 There is no need of any comment upon these nine Missouri reports before any body of economic or scientific entomologists. They are monuments to the State of Missouri, and more especially to the man whowrotethem. They are original, practical, and scientific; they cover avery great range of injurious insects, and practically all the species which were especially injurious during those nine years received full and careful treatment. They may be said to have formed the basis for the new economic entomology of the world, and they include a multitude of observations and intelligent deductions which have influenced scien- tific thought. Their value to the agriculturist, as well as to scientific readers, was greatly enhanced by the remarkable series of illustrations which were drawn by the author and engraved upon wood by the _ most skillful wood engravers of that time. Aside from a few of the illustrations to the Flint edition of Harris, they are the best wood cuts ever made of insects in this country, and as a whole the drawing far excels that of the Harris illustrations in its lifelike accuracy, artistic beauty, and closeness of detail. Prof. Riley abandoned his Missouri work on taking up the directorship of the U. 8S. Entomological Com- mission, and in pursuance of a shortsighted policy Missouri has never since had a State entomologist. OTHER STATES AND THE HATCH STATE AGRICULTURAL HXPERI- MENT STATIONS.—Massachusetts, New York, Illinois, and Missouri are the only States which may be said to have supported official economic entomologists. There are letters on file in the Division, dated in 1880, from Mr. J. T. Humphreys, who announces himself in his letter head as “Late naturalist and entomologist to the Georgia Department of A gri- culture;” but although I have made something of an effort to learn the details of Mr. Humphreys’s employment, I have so far been unsuc- cessful. The State of Pennsylvania has for some years handled its economic entomology by means of an officer who holds an honorary commission from the State board of agriculture. This commission was held for some years prior to his death by Dr. 8.8. Rathvon. At the present time Dr. Henry Skinner, of Philadelphia, and Dr. R. C. Scheidt, of Lancaster, are entomologists to the State board. In the spring of 1888, the State Agricultural Experiment Stations, founded under the Hatch Act, were organized.” A number of entomol- ogists were soon appointed and active work began practically in the month of February. This movement, the importance of which to American economic entomology can hardly be overestimated, is too recent to require full treatment here. The first entomological bulletin published by any of the experiment stations was issued in A pril, 1888, from the Arkansas station, by Mr.S. H. Crossman, and was entitled The Peach-tree Borer and the Codling Moth. Bulletins from Hulst, in New Jersey; Morse, in California; Tracy, in Mississippi; Asimead,in Florida; and Weed,in Ohio, followed in May. Popenoe, in Kansas, and Perkins, in Vermont, published one each in 71 June, and Fernald, in Massachusetts, and Lugger, in Minnesota, one each in July. Through the kindness of Mr. A. C. True, director of the Office of Experiment Stations of the U. 8. Department of Agriculture, I am in possession of a bibliographical list of the entomological publications of the agricultural experiment stations down to the present month. This was drawn up by Mr. F. C. Test, of Mr. True’s office, and will be pub- lished as an appendix to this address. An analysis of its contents shows that 42 States and Territories have employed persons to do ento- mological work, and that the number of experiment station workers who have published entomological bulletins or reports reaches 77. Not half of these writers, however, have been officially designated as entomologists to the station. Of those so designated there are 28; 8 have held the title botanist and entomologist; 6, consulting entomolo- gist; 4, assistant entomologist; 4, horticulturist and entomologist; 1, special entomologist; 1, entomologist and physiologist; 2, entomologist and zoologist; 1, entomologistand superintendent of farms; 1, director, entomologist, and botanist; 1, vice-director, horticulturist, entomologist, and mycologist; 1, special agent; 1, apiarist; 2, biologist. The other writers bear titles which indicate that they are not specialists in ento- mology. They areas follows: Agriculturist, 1; assistant agriculturist, 1; horticulturist and agriculturist, 1; horticulturist, 3; assistant horti- culturist, 1; botanist and mycologist, 1; director, 2; botanist, 2; super- intendent of grounds, 1; pomologist, 1; specialist, 1; veterinarian, 1; clerk and librarian, 1. The entomological publications of these experiment stations have numbered 3511, of which 88 have been annual reports, 213 bulletins, and 10 leaflets and circulars. In character the bulletins and such reports as have definite titles may be thrown into three categories: 1, those which treat only of insecticides and insecticide machinery (40); 2, those which contain compiled accounts of insects, with measures for their destruction (60); 3, those which contain the results of more or less sound original observation, with compiled matter and matter upon reme- dies (117). There are also two small classes: 1, apiculture (6), and 2, classificatory (4). It would be a matter of very considerable interest if I were able at this time to give a more critical summary of the results achieved by our experiment station workers in entomology. The little analysis which precedes shows a gratifying preponderance of bulletins and reports which contain results of original work; and yet at the same time we must remember that while these papers advance our knowl- edge of entomological science, the compilations may frequently accom- plish greater practical good. This point is illustrated by a state- ment which I have from Prof. Garman, of the Kentucky station. He says that Bulletin No. 40 of his station, containing condensed accounts of some of the commoner and more injurious insects of the farm and 12 garden, is the oue for which there has been the greatest demand. The original edition of 12,000 was soon exhausted, and another lot has since been printed. The bulletin was prepared by request, and naturally is not the sort of work which our station entomologists prefer to do. ‘Its success,” writes Prof. Garman, ‘“‘has been a lesson to me as to what farmers want and will use.” It occurred to me that it might be valuable to have a statement from each of the experiment station entomologists as to the piece of work he had done which seemed to have accomplished the most practical good, in the light of his own accurate information concerning the farm- ing population of his State. I therefore addressed letters to nearly all of the station workers in entomology, but have received replies from only about half of them, so that a statement of this kind would hardly be justified. It is interesting to note, however, that experiment station workers place in very high esteem the results of their correspondence with farmers and of their lectures before farmers’ institutes and other bodies. It is in these two ways that the popular sentiment among agri- culturists as to the importance of economic entomology is being much more rapidly spread than, perhaps, by the publication of bulletins upon injurious insects. : CANADA. The Rey. C. J.S. Bethune, for many years one of the most prominent writers on entomology in Canada, and a well-known contributor to the columns of the Canadian Farmer on the subject of agricultural ento- mology, was largely responsible for the organization of the Entomo- logical Society of Ontario, and for the first appropriation of money made to that society with a view to the development of economic ento- mology among our neighbors across the border. The council of the Agricultural and Arts Association of Ontario in 1869 voted a grant of $400 to the Entomological Society of Ontario for the year 1870, on con- dition that the entomological society should furnish an annual report, should found a cabinet of insects, useful or prejudicial to agriculture and horticulture, to be placed at the disposal of the council, and that it should also continue to publish the Canadian Entomologist. This was the origin of the first annual report of the Ontario society, which was published in 1871 by the Agricultural and Arts Association. This association also gave the society $100 additional, and the Fruit-Grow- ers’ Association of Ontario $50 additional, to be used for the purpose of illustrating the report. During the session of the legislature of the Province of Ontario in 1870-71, the agriculture and arts act was passed. By this act the Entomological Society of Ontario was incor- porated, and a grant of $500 per annum was made to it from the pro- vincial treasury. In 1872 the legislature made an extra grant of $200 for the purchase of woodcuts, etc., making the total appropriation $700. In 1873 an extra grant of $500 was made, and the annual grant for 1874 73 was increased to $750. In 1875 the grant was $750, plus $100 for illus- trations; in 1876 $750, plus $500 toward the expense of an exhibit at the Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia; in 1877, 1878, and 1879 it. was $750 per annum, and in 1880 the grant was increased to $1,000, at which sum it has continued since that date. The Government also pays the expense of printing the annual report. The society has conscientiously complied with the conditions of the grant. Its reports, published annually, have greatly increased in size and in the general interest of their contents. They have contained much matter of economic value as well as of educational interest. In 1884 the Department of Agriculture of Canada established the office of honorary entomologist, and this office was filled by the appoint- meut of Mr. James Fletcher, at that time an employé of the Govern- . ment Library at Ottawa, and already widely known in entomological circles through his active interest in the Ontario society and his con- tributions toits publications. On July 1, 1887, Mr. Fletcher was trans- ferred to the staff of the Dominion Experimental Farms at Ottawa as entomologist and botanist. Mr. Fletcher’s footing since that date has been practically identical with that of an entomologist to one of our State experiment stations, except that his field is larger. He has pub- lished a report yearly in the Annual Report of the Experimental Farms, published as an appendix to the report of the Minister of Agriculture. Mr. Fletcher has shown himself to be a man of extraordinary energy, a most entertaining writer, and a most careful observer, and one who has always kept the practical part of his work foremost in view. He has paid a great deal of attention to a side of his work which is neg- lected by many of our own official entomologists, namely, personal intercourse with farmers, frequent talks on injurious insects at farmers’ institutes, etc., and has in this way built up a very large clientage among the most intelligent agriculturists of the Dominion. In economic entomology Canada at the present day is perhaps in no way behind the United States, and this is largely due to Mr. Fletcher’s individual efforts, aided and encouraged as they are by the warm support of the eminent director of the experimental farms system, Mr. William Saunders, himself a pioneer in economic entomology in Canada and the author of one of the most valuable treatises upon the subject that has ever been published in America. Canada has the man and the knowledge, but has been hampered by want of funds. The result is that while she has immediately and intelligently adopted the results of researches made in this country, she has not been able to lead us in original inves- tigation. EUROPEAN COUNTRIES. In general it may be said that Europe has not felt the need of ento- mological investigation from the economic standpoint to anything like the same extent as the United States. A climate much less favorable 74 to the undue multiplication of injurious insects than that of North America, and which, moreover, seems to act as a barrier against the importation of foreign destructive species, the actually smaller num- ber of injurious species and the vastly greater familiarity with all phases of the life-history of these species by all classes of the people, partly resulting from the older civilization, partly from educational methods, and partly from the abundance of elementary and popular literature on questions of this character, the denser population and the resulting vastly smaller holdings in farms, the necessarily greatly diversified crops, the frequent rotation of crops, together with the clean and close cultivation necessitated by the small size of the hold- ings, and the cheaper and more abundant labor, have all resulted in a very different state of affairs regarding the damage which may be done by injurious insects. In summarizing these points, the Chief of the Agricultural Section of the Ministry of Agriculture of Prussia, in conversation with the writer last summer, argued that Germany does not need to employ general economic entomologists; that its experi- ment stations seldom receive applications for advice on entomological topics. Special insects, it is true, occasionally spring into prominence; the Phylloxera is one of these, and in an emergency like the Phylloxera outbreak, the work is handled by special commissions. European nations, therefore, can afford to let the insect problem alone to a much greater extent than the United States, for the reason thatit is of infinitely less importance with them than with us. The most simple remedies, such as hand-picking, together with a rigid enforcement of the public regulations regarding hand destruction, usually suffice to keep injuri- ous insects in check. Nevertheless insect outbreaks do occasionally occur, and there is a certain percentage of loss every year from the work of injurious species. The results obtained in the United States, where the number of native injurious species is much greater than in Europe, and where we have in addition to deal with a host of imported species—in short, where the fighting of insect foes has become an abso- lute necessity—have, however, acted to a certain degree as incentives, not only to other countries which labor under the same climatic dis- advantages as the United States, but even to a certain degree to European countries, where more thorough investigation of injurious insects by competent persons espevially appointed for the purpose is gradually becoming thought worth while. In 1890, at the Agricultural Congress held at Vienna, resolutions were passed founding the so-called International Phytopathological Commission. The movement was an important one, particularly for European countries, and as work upon injurious insects forms a part of the object of the commission the resolutions organizing it may be given here: 1. Whereas the numerous diseases and other enemies of plants are a constant source of damage, and sometimes even occasion the greatest losses to proprietors 15 and the public wealth, the congress resolves that it isabsolutely necessary to estab- lish scientific stations exclusively devoted to the study of the diseases of cultivated plants among us. 2. These phytopathologic stations, which, in order to be in the closest relations with scientific and practical circles, shall be established in the center of each coun- try that is well provided with channels of communication, ought to be State insti- tutions, charged with aiding practice by making gratuitous analyses for, and inves- tigating and collaborating with, it. 3. The congress recognizes that observations and experiments made in common in all cultivated countries are the best guaranty of success in the search for sure and appropriate methods of combating the diseases of plants. Great expense may be saved in overcoming future epidemics if, by means of a network of scientific observations extending over all cultivated countries, States not yet attacked by plant diseases may be warned in time to take the necessary measures. 4, The congress considers it necessary that the heads of all pathologic stations of different countries shall engage to meet once a year to discuss and pass the resolu- tions which shall be deemed opportune. 5. The congress elects an international commission, having the right of codpta- tion, which shall put itself in relation with the Society of Agriculture of Vienna and agree with it as to the measures to be taken toward founding scientific stations designed to investigate the diseases of plants, and toward organizing a service of phytopathologic inspection in all cultivated countries, Following the general meeting at Vienna, the members of the com- mission held a consultation meeting at The Hague, Holland. It was plain to the members present that the first necessity was the organiza- tion of national commissions in the several countries to be represented on the international commission. The efforts of the members have, therefore, since that date, been devoted to the establishment of such national commissions. Institutions for phytopathologic service have in this way been organized in Germany, Holland, and Belgium, and are being agitated in other European countries. It is the intention of the secretary, Dr. Paul Sorauer, of Berlin, editor of the Zeitschrift fiir Pflanzenkrankheiten, to call the members of the commission together in 1896, at Berlin, on the occasion of the Berlin Industrial Exposition, in order to accomplish a more complete international organization, and in order to start the annual meetings provided for in the fourth section of the Vienna resolutions. It must be remembered, moreover, in treating of European countries, that, in addition to special commissions to investigate special insect problems of temporary importance, there are other classes of official work bearing upon insects, which, however, we can hardly consider in this connection, mainly for want of space. These are, government encouragement of sericulture and apiculture, both through subsidies, and the establishment of educational institutions, and further sub- sidizing of learned societies, enabling them to carry on investigations and publish works of more or lessimportance. Very considerable good has been accomplished in this direction, but the sources of information at hand are too scanty to justify any more than a brief reference to the existence of such an element in our general subject. 716 GREAT BRITAIN. There is not and never has been in Great Britain a special government appropriation for work in economic entomology. In 1885 Mr. Charles Whitehead suggested to the lords of the committee of council for agriculture that it would be valuable to publish reports upon insects injurious to various farm crops. He prepared, and the council pub- lished, a series of four reports upon insects injurious to the hop plant, corn, and leguminous plants, to turnips, cabbage, and other cultivated cruciferous plants, and to fruit crops. In 1886 Mr. Whitehead was appointed agricultural adviser and prepared a report upon insects and fungi injurious to crops of the farm, orchard, and garden for 1887-88. In 1889 the board of agriculture was formed, and Mr. Whitehead was retained as technical adviser, especially with reference to insects and fungi injurious to crops, but also with reference to other agricultural questions. He prepared annual reports on insects and fungi for 1889, 1891, and 1892, and a number of leaflets and special bulletins on insects unusually prevalent from 1889 down to the present time. I learn from Mr. Whitehead that there is no specific law authorizing this expendi- ture; that his work Las been continuous since 1887, and that he has received an annual sum of £250 only. The more important of the special bulletins and leaflets which have been issued have been: Special Report on an Attack of the Diamond-back Moth Caterpillar, 1892; Caterpillars on Fruit Trees; Hessian Fly; Moths on Fruit Trees, 1890; Apple Blossom Weevil, Raspberry Moth, and the Mangel-wurzel Fly, 1892; Black Currant Mite, 1893; and the Red Spider and Apple Sucker, 1894. While Mr. Whitehead has therefore been the only governmental worker in agricultural entomology, a very considerable work has been done in a semiofficial way by an untiring and public-spirited woman, Miss Eleanor A. Ormerod, who is, or rather was, in her official capacity, honorary consulting entomologist to the Royal Agricultural Society. From 1876 to 1893 Miss Ormerod held this position; conducted the correspondence of the Royal Agricultural Society on the subject of injurious insects, and published at her own expense a series of annual reports, seventeen in number, which have contributed very largely to the diffusion of knowledge concerning injurious insects in Great Britain among the farming classes. She has had a most conservative class of people to deal with, and has encountered many obstacles. She has shown herself ingenious, careful, and receptive to a degree, and at the Same time possessed of an enthusiam and an unlimited perseverance which are calculated to overcome all obstacles. She has studied many of the English crop enemies de novo; she has popularized the work of other English entomologists, and has made accessible to the agricul- tural class the work of John Curtis and Prof. Westwood, and has adopted, and strongly advocated the adoption of, measures found to be successful in other countries. particularly in America. The good which 17 Miss Ormerod has accomplished can hardly be estimated at the present time, but she will deserve, at the hands of posterity, canonization as the patron saint of economic entomology in England. Aside from her annual reports Miss Ormerod has published a large work entitled Manual of Injurious Insects and Methods of Prevention, and numerous smaller works, treating of the Hessian fly, sugar-cane insects, and the injurious insects of South Africa, the last two being devoted to the agricultural interests of the English colonies. Within the year the Royal Agricultural Society has made the office of consulting entomologist, or rather zoologist—for they have broad- ened the term—a Salaried one, and Mr. Cecil Warburton. an able student of zoology, although not known as an entomologist, has been appointed to the position. Mr. Warburton has published one report, which is mainly compiled and devoted to extracts from the correspondence of the society, but it is too early as yet to judge of his capabilities from our standpoint. Miss Ormerod’s legitimate radocasisvr may be said to have been John Curtis, who, from the beginning of Dr. Lindley’s Gardener’s Chronicle, contributed an important series of essays upon injurious insects to its columns, under the nom de plume * Ruricola.” Mr. Curtis’s connection with this famous agricultural journal was of great advan- tage to him, as it enabled him to secure information and specimens from all parts of the Kingdom. He hadalso accumulated a large amount of information during the twenty years he was engaged in writing his great work upon British entomology. When the Royal Agricultural Society of England was founded, in 1840, the council of the society invited Mr. Curtis to prepare a series of reports upon the insects affect- ing various crops cultivated in Great Britain and Ireland, and in the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society for the years 1841 to 1857 he publisked a series of sixteen such reports. The matter of these reports, and also of his previously published Gardener’s Chronicle articles, was drawu upon largely for, and in fact forms the major portion of, his standard work upon Farm Insects, published by Blackie & Sons, London, Glasgow, and Edinburgh, in 1860. Whether Curtis was remu- nerated for his work for the Royal Agricultural Society or not I am unable at this time to state, although he probably received some compen- sation. I learn through the kindness of Miss Ormerod that, chiefly on account of the value of his writings upon economic entomology, Mr. Curtis was awarded a pension from the civil list, which was augmented about three years before his death on account of the sad loss of sight which he experienced. In 1877 a strong effort was made to secure the appointment of a Government entomologist. A conference was held at the Society of Arts which was largely attended and was presided over by the Duke of Buceleugh, k. G. The most important paper read was by Mr. Andrew Murray, and after a long discussion the conference resolved: 78 That much of the loss occasioned by insects is preventable and ought to be pre- vented; that it properly belongs to government to provide the necessary means for © protecting cultivators from this loss, as it is only by simultaneous action over con- | siderable districts that it can be effectually done, and government alone possesses or | can obtain the requisite means of indorsing such action; that the president and lords of the council and the agricultural societies of the United Kingdom be informed of the opinion of this conference and urged to take the subject at once into their con- sideration, with a view to providing a remedy. While we have no doubt that this conference was of sufficient impor- tance and attracted enough attention to induce the president, lords, etc.. to take the subject into consideration, no further action resulted. IRELAND. Mr. George H. Carpenter was appointed in 1890 consulting entomol- ogist to the Royal Dublin Society, and has submitted four reports, enti- tled Report on Economic Entomology for the Year 1890, and the same for 1891, 1892, and 1893. Reprints of these reports from the Reports of the Council of the Royal Dublin Society have been distributed. Mr. Carpenter is assistant naturalist in the Science and Art Museum in Dublin, and I am not informed as to whether he receives special com- pensation for his work as consulting entomologist. GERMANY. Except in the one department of forest insects, the official side of economic entomology has not, in Germany, reached a high plane of devel- opment. In regard to the study of forest insects, however, Germany leads the world. The work of Ratzeburg is famous, and the impulse which he gave to the study, not alone through his published writings, but through his ability as a teacher, is felt today. His labors, and those of Nitsche, Althum, and others, have resulted in a widespread knowledge of all the important forest insects, which extends even to the lowest employés in the forestry service. With regard to the other departments of economic entomology, important works have been writ- ten by Bouché and Nordlinger, Rossmiésler, Taschenberg, and others, while the number of smaller articles upon injurious insects is very large. In Germany the need of entomological information, by means of numer- ous well-illustrated and cheap popular works, is perhaps better supplied than in any other country. No special institutions for the investiga- tion of the life histories of injurious animals existed, however, before 1888, when, through the intluence of Prof. Kiihn, in Halle, an exper- iment station for the extermination of sugar-beet Nematodes was founded, which Dr. Holrung, the present director, has expanded to some extent, so that other allied troubles, including injurious insects, are included in the scope of the work of the station. Dr. Holrung visited America during the summer of 1893, and expressed to the writer great interest in the work in economic entomology in this country, and ex- amined particularly the methods in use in the insectary of the Depart- 79 ment ef Agriculture, with a view to duplicating them at his own station. AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. The Austro-Hungarian Empire as a whole has done little in the way of official economic entomology. Austria proper resembles Germany; general entomological education is so far advanced, semipopular works upon entomology are so abundant, and the crop conditions are such, that the necessity for official work has not been felt. Vincent Kollar, writing from 1824 to 1858, particularly after his connection with the Zodlogical Museum at Vienna, paid special attention to injurious insects, and as his museum position was an official one he may be said to have been, to a certain extent, an official entomologist. His well- known work entitled Naturgeschichte der schaidlichen Insekten in Bezug auf Landwirthschaft und Forstkultur was published privately in Vienna in 1857, but its contents were based upon researches made under government pay. A translation of this work into English, by Loudon, with added notes by Westwood, published three years later in London, for many years remained a standard and accessible work upon European injurious insects. It is unfortunate that in the trans- lation Kollar’s name became KOllar. Georg Ritter von Frauenfeld, writing from 1847 to 1861, published a number of notices upon injurious insects, and other Austrian writers have done the same. Among the many semipopular works upon economic entomology may be mentioned G. Henschel’s volume on Injurious Insects of Farm and Kitchen- Garden; Their Life Histories and Remedies, published in 1890, at Vienna. The department of forest insects is well cared for by forestry officials, as in Germany. True official encouragement of economic entomology in the Austro- Hungarian Empire, is, however, confined to the kindoms of Hungary and Bohemia. HunGARY.—The work in economic entomology carried on under official auspices in the Kingdom of Hunyary is done by the Royal State Entomological Station at Budapest, under the learned and able direc- tion of Dr. Geza Horvath. The station was founded in 1881 by the Government as a Phylloxera experiment station, with the practical end in view of the study of the grapevine Phylloxera and the remedial measures to be used against it. The organization of the station was placed in the hands of Dr. Horvath, who had already established a firm reputation for himself in the field of economic and scientific entomol- ogy, although the Phylloxera had for some years been the main object of his investigations. As the Phylloxera question, however, became more and more elucidated, and as the means of defense against this scourge became reduced to a practical basis, the work of the station became directed more and more toward other noxious insects. In con- formity with this gradual change the name of the station has been 80) 7 changed, and since 1890 it has been called La Station Entomologique || de l’Etat. The establishment of the station was voted by the legisla- tive chamber, and sanctioned by the King. It is subordinate to the Ministry of Agriculture; its offices are established in the palace of the © Ministry of Agriculture at Pesth, and consist of laboratories and a | library. It possesses entomological collections and a collection of — insecticide apparatus. The personnel of the station is composed of the director, two assistants, and a buy, and it is supported by an annual appropriation of 8,000 florins. The station has organized in the King- | dom a special corps of reporters, who send iu regular reports upon the appearance of destructive insects in their respective regions. These — reports at first concerned only insects injurious to agriculture, but / since 1886 the field has been extended to include insects injuricus to { 4 : forests. The reporters are farmers and forestry agents, who send in their reports gratuitously. The reports as they arrive at the station are immediately examined and responses are sent indicating the meas- ures to be taken against the insect in question; or one of the employés of the station is sent into the field to study the habits of the injurious species and experiment upon the best means for its destruction. The station publishes every year a general report to the Minister of Agri- culture, which 1s published in the comprehensive annual report addressed to the Chamber of Deputies. Since 1890 the station has also been able to publish special reports, which are issued in separate fasci- cles and are gratuitously distributed to the public. The leaflets which have been published up to the present time may be briefly men- tioned, since they are written in the Hungarian language: 1. Spraying apparatus of use in horticuiture. 2. Practical instructions concerning the destruction of locusts by the Cypriote machine. 3. Practical instructions upon the treatment of phylloxerated vines with bisul- phide of carbon. 4. Migratory locusts in Hungary in the years 1888, 1889, 1890. 5. Reports upon insects injurious to forests during the years 1886-’89. 6. Practical manual upon the treatment of phylloxerated vines with bisulphide of carbon. 7. The wheat weevil (Calandra granaria). 8. Report upon insects injurious to agriculture, 1884-89. 9. Upon the measures to be used against injurious insects. 10. The wheat leaf-beetle (Lema melanopus). BOHEMIA.—For a number of years prior to 1891, Dr. Ottokar Nickerl, principal of the seed control station of the Agricultural Council for the Kingdom of Bohemia, issued an annual report upon the principal insects injurious to the agriculture of Bohemia during the year. These reports, which were published for the years 1875, 1878, 1879, 1880, and 1882 to 1890 (thirteen in all), were published partly in the reports of the State Agricultural Council, partly by the Society for Physiokratie (at the time when Dr. Nickerl was president of the entomological section of the society), and partly privately by the author. Previous to 1875, 81 and commencing in 1871, there were short articles on the injuries done by insects, written by Dr. Nickerl, and between the years 1850 and 1870 there were published a large number of similar reports, written by Dr. Nickerl’s father, Dr. Franz A. Nickerl, who died in1871. These reports were published by the elder Nickerl as a member of the K. K. Patriotic-Economice Society of the Kingdom of Bohemia. In 1891 the State Agricultural Council of Bohemia was reorganized, and Dr. Nicker] retired, with the effect of discontinuing the annual reports. In the last of the reports, that for 1891, Dr. Nickerl gives a complete list of the reports published by him and an index of all the insects treated from the year 1875 to date. This list includes 108 species, of which 18 occur in this country, as introductions from Europe, The reports are brief and are not illustrated. ITALY. The work which has been done by the Italian Government in the encouragement of economic entomology perhaps surpasses that of any other European nation. In the year 1875 the Royal Station of Agri- cultural Entomology was established at Florence. The director of the station was most wisely selected; Prof. Adolf Targioni-Tozzetti, a learned entomologist and a man of widespread reputation, was appointed to the position and was allowed two assistants. Since this beginning the work of the station has been continuous. Through its active and energetic labors theagriculturists of Italy have been informed concerning the vast majority of the insects of economic importance in the country. The station possesses a rich scientific library and a very large collec- tion of economic insects. Its aims are practically identical with those of the entomological offices of the experiment stations of our own coun- try, and with those of the Division of Entomology of the U. 8. Depart- ment of Agriculture. It is a correspondence bureau; it endeavors by original research to shed new light upon the problems of general eco- nomic entomology, and to publish for the benefit of agriculturists its own researches and those of private individuals. The station has published a very large number of leaflets treating of entomological sub- jects, as well as general reports for the years 1877-78 (Florence, 1881); 1879-82 (Florence, 1884); and 1883-85 (Florence, 1888). It has pub- lished also a separate work entitled Agricultural Orthoptera (Florence, 1882), and a large and useful volume entitled Animals and Insects ‘of Growing and Dry Tobacco (Florence, 1891). The publications of this station are too little consulted in this coun- try. Prof. Targioni-Tozzetti has made a life-long study of the Coccide, and his articles upon this group of injurious insects possess the very highest value. With the assistance of Dr. Giacomo del Guercio and Dr. Antonio Berlese, he has conducted by far the most elaborate series of experiments with insecticides, used mainly against the Coccide, but also against injurious insects of other groups, of which there is any 82 record in the literature of economic entomology. Some five or six years. ago the mulberry trees over a large portion of Italy were attacked by a | | | | . a very destructive scale insect, known as Diaspis pentagona, a species © which also attacked a number of other cultivated trees, and which 4 | instigated very largely the experimental work which we have just men- © tioned. The investigation resulted in the adoption of three prime — insecticides, one composed of kerosene emulsion, another of an emul- sion of bisulphide of carbon, and the third of an emulsion of crude tar oil. These mixtures, used in varying proportions, proved the most — effective of the many scores of substances or combinations of substances tried. Itis interesting to note that this great amount of admirable work has been accomplished on an annual appropriation of 11,000 lire. Aside from the work of the station at Florence, the Ministry of Agri- culture at Rome published, in 1887, an extremely important and use- ful work, which bears largely upon economic entomology, and which is entitled Botanical Studies upon Citrus and Allied Plants, by Dr. O. Penzig, of Genoa. The subtitle of the work is “‘ Memoria premiata dal Rk. Ministero d’agricoltura” which, if I take it aright, means that it was prepared privately by the author, received a money award at the hands of the ministry, and was published as a special volume of the annals. The entomological portion of this important work is in part compiled, but it has been done in the most careful and thorough man- ner. The author has been familiar with the work of entomologists in all parts of the world, and has brought together a great mass of prac- tical information. The large atlas which accompanies the work con- tains 20 quarto plates of a very considerable degree of excellence. FRANCE. The French people have done much to advance the science of ento- mology; they have even done a great deal in economic entomology. The agricultural conditions prevailing in France are similar to those which hold in Germany, and what we have said about the latter coun- try will largely apply to France. The abundance of popular works upon economic entomology is thesame. Beginning with Fonscolombe’s Mémoires sur les Insectes Nuisibles a Agriculture, principalement dans le Departement du Midi de France, published in 1840, a number of these works have been published, the most prominent of which was, perhaps, that of M. Charles Goureau, under the title Insectes Nuisibles, published in 1862, and of which two supplements were afterwards issued. Moreover, in 1867 a journal was established by Dr. Boisduval, entitled Insectologie Agricole, treating of useful insects and their prod- ucts, noxious insects and their injuries, and the principal means of fighting them, of which six volumes appeared, comprising the years 1867 to 1872. For a number of years instruction in economic ento- mology has been given at the Ecole Nationale d’Agriculture at Mont-— pellier, largely by the able zoologist, M. Valery Mayet, who has recently | 83 published an important work upon a branch of economic entomology entitled Les Insectes de la Vigne. No nation could have attacked an insect problem with more energy than did the French the question of subduing the Phylloxera in the early seventies, by means of special commissions and the offering of large rewards to scientific investiga- tors. The same energy was displayed when they were confronted with that disastrous disease of the silkworm known as pébrine. More recently the question of the injury to cultivated crops in Algeria by the Algerian locust has been approached with the same degree of scientific ability. But the appointment of special salaried entomolog- ical officers is a new thing in France. In 1893 there was established at Paris an institution called Le Lab- oratoire de Parasitologie Vegetale de la Bourse de Commerce. This institution was created by the Société de la Bourse de Commerce of Paris in the interest of agriculture, of the commerce in grain, and of all the agricultural interests of which the Bourse de Commerce is the centre Waffaires in Paris. The laboratory was founded by the appoint- ment of M. J. Danysz as director, and several bulletins have been published. More recently Prof. Brocchi, professor of zoology at the Institut Agronomique, at Paris, has been charged with the founding of a department of agricultural entomology. The work of the department will be to identify insects sent in for that purpose by agriculfurists, and to point out means of destroying insect pests or diminishing their ravages. For some time previously M. Brocchi had, in his capacity of professor of zoology, answered questions upon economic entomology referred to him by the ministry of agriculture, and, as notably in the case of Ephestia kuehniella, a report upon which he published in the Bulletin du Ministere de l’ Agriculture, 1888, has occasionally furnished ‘full and valuable reports. SPAIN. Aside from commission work upon the Phylloxera, Spain has done nothing in the way of official work in economic entomology. The shin- ing light in entomological research in Spain, Dr. Ignacio Bolivar, for many years connected with the National Museum at Madrid, and cura- tor of entomology in the Central University, has published many papers upon insects, some of them having an economic bearing, notably those upon injurious locusts of the Mediterranean region. Within the past few weeks an item has appeared in the newspapers stating that Spain has appropriated $100,000 to further Phylloxera investigations, but concerning the method in which the sum is to be used I have learned nothing. THE NETHERLANDS. Economic entomology in the Netherlands, while reasonably advanced through the private labors of Dr. J. Ritzema Bos and several other 5216—No. 2 3 84 scientific men, has not reached the official stage. Dr. Ritzema Bos is professor of zoology and animal physiology in the Royal Agricultural College at Wageningen, and for more than twenty years has volunta- rily given information to the Dutch agriculturists and horticulturists. Up to the present time he has received no specific indemnification from the Government. For 1894, however, he has been promised the insig- nificant sum of 500 florins, equal to $200. The outlook, however, is favorable, and in a reorganization of agricultural instruction which will be brought about within a year or two, itis hoped that economic entomology will gain a better place. The only active and well organ- ized branch of the International Phytopathologic Commission exists in the Netherlands. It was organized upon the same lines as the parent society founded at the meeting of the Agricultural Congress held at Vienna in 1890. It was organized April 11, 1891, by the two Dutch members of the International Phytopathologic Committee, Dr. J. Rit- zema Bos and Prof. Hugo de Vries, for a term of twenty-nine years. Roughly translated, the essential by-laws of the society read practically as follows: Article 1 recites that the Dutch Phytopathological Society was founded in pur- suance of the action of the Agricultural Congress at Vienna in 1890; that its field is limited to the Netherlands. Article 2, that it was organized for twenty-nine years, has its official home at Amsterdam, and its year of association begins January 1. In article 3 the object of the society is stated to be the promotion of agriculture, horticulture, and forestry in the Netherlands by the investigation of the diseases and enemies of cultivated plants and remedies therefor. Article 4 enumerates the following specific means of attaining this end: (a) By making observations upon the appearance and distribution of plant diseases and injurious animals; (b) by the scientific investigation of the diseases of cultivated plants occurring in the Netherlands; (c) by testing means to prevent and combat plant diseasés and injurious animals; (d) by disseminating information elsewhere acquired as to the different methods of combating plant diseases and injurious ani- mals; (e) by the distribution of knowledge on these subjects; (f) by furnishing illus- trations, as far as possible, free of cost, to Dutch agriculturists who desire it, in regard to the diseases or injuries of plants. Article 5 provides for the employment, where possible, of experts, and the estab- lishment of experimental phytopathologie stations. Articles 6, 7, and 8 prescribe the terms of membership and provide for donations to the society from individuals or other societies. Article 9 relates to the publications of the society, article 10 to scientific members who are willing to undertake investigations, and aiticle 11 to the receipt of speci- mens from correspondents and their reference to experts for report. Articles 12 and 13 relate to the reimbursement of members for expenses incurred in correspondence and traveling, and articles 14 to 17 to the officers of the society, the appointments of its committees, general meetings, conduct of business, etc. NORWAY. For the past three years Norway has been giving more and more encouragement to economic entomology. Mr. W. M. Schoéyen, curator in the Royal Norske Frederike’s University at Christiania, is almost 85 solely responsible for the development of the science in that country. He had published a number of important papers relative to injurious insects, and was favorably known as a scientific entomologist through | his papers on Norwegian Lepidoptera, Hemiptera, Orthoptera, and Diptera. In 1891 he was appointed by the Government ‘* Landbrugs- entomolog” and Parliament voted an annual pay of 1,000 kroner, equivalent to $270. Correspondence with farmers and horticulturists was worked up and an annual report was published in that year, as well as the following years. In 1893 Mr. Schoyen’s compensation was raised to 1,200 kroner, and in 1894 he was appointed Government ento- mologist and was voted a salary of 3,000 kroner ($810) with traveling expenses. He was instructed to study insects and fungi in their rela- tions to agriculture and horticulture, as wellas to forests. In his three annual reports Mr. Schoyen has treated of the insects injurious to a number of different crops, his matter consisting mainly of short notes classified according to crops. He has also published pamphlets upon the Hessian fly and several other insects. Since his appointment as Government entomologist he has resigned his curatorship in the uni- versity and in future will devote his entire time to economic work. SWEDEN. After one or two unsuccessful applications during the late seventies by the Royal Academy of Agriculture of Stockholm, the King of Swe- den, on February 23, 1880, appropriated 1,000 kronor as an annual sal- ary for an entomologist in the service of the academy, whose duties should be to distribute information upon injurious insects and to try to prevent the damage done by such insects. This appropriation was made annually to the academy until 1890. The Bureau of Agriculture was then founded, and the appropriation was transferred to this bureau. The compensation was increased in 1893 to 1,500 kronor. The first appointee under the appropriation of 1880 was Dr. August Emil Holm- gren, a well-known writer on insects, as well as a distinguished student of the order Hymenoptera. Dr. Holmgren’s position was that of lec- turer on natural history at the Institute of Forestry, and he also taught practical entomology during his vacation at the agricultural school at Alnasp. If Dr. Holmgren published definite reports as the official outcome of his work I have not been able to find any reference to them. Such reports may have been filed with the Bureau of Agricul- ture, as has been the case in later years, without receiving official publication. He did, however, a great deal to popularize entomology in Sweden, published abstracts and translations of German works, particularly those upon forest insects, and, in fact, translated Ratze- burg’s Die Forst-Insekten into Swedish. He labored under many dif- ficulties, the text of the appropriation implying that the officer already possessed the necessary knowledge for advising farmers, and no funds were advanced to enable him to carry on experimental work—the whole 86 amount, in fact, being ridiculously insufficient to enable the accom- plishment of any good results. Dr. Holmgren died in 1888, at the age of 69, and in 1887 Mr. Sven Lampa, a practical agriculturist and a curator in the museum at Stock- — holm, was appointed to carry on the work in economic entomology in his place. Mr. Lampa is an industrious and well-informed entomolo- gist, has conducted a large correspondence, and has also published a number of valuable pamphlets upon the principal crop pests of Sweden. For four years now active efforts have been made by the Entomological Society of Sweden, by the Royal Academy of Agriculture, by the Eco- nomic Society of Ostrogothia, and by the Bureau of Agriculture, as well as by less important agricultural associations of Sweden, looking to the establishment of an entomological experiment station, which shall be well fitted out and supported by ample means. The move- ment was started at the tenth anniversary of the Entomological Soci- ety, on December 14, 1889, and since that time not a meeting has been held without discussion of the project in one shape or another. The movement rapidly grew, and during 1893 the Royal Agricultural Acad- emy addressed a lengthy petition to the King to lay the project before the Legislature (Rigsdag). On receipt of this petition the King asked for a report from the representatives of the Economic Society at their last meeting in November, 1893, as well as from the Royal Bureau of Agriculture, which in its turn asked for a report from Mr. Lampa. The Entomological Society also made a special report on the subject to the Royal Bureau of Agriculture. These reports are all very instruct- ive, and give an excellent idea of the damage done by injurious insects in Sweden. They are collected in a pamphlet which Mr. Lampa has been kind enough to send the writer recently. The appropriations asked for by the representatives of the Economic Society are 10,000 kronor for a building and 3,000 kronor for laboratory fittings, to be immediately available. They further ask annual appropriations for salary of director, 4,000 kronor; for an assistant, 1,000 kronor, and for sundry expenses, 1,800 kronor. The Bureau of Agriculture, in its recommendations, modifies the above with a proposition to rent a build- ing instead of erecting one, and adds a pension for the director, as for the other officers of the academy. After the submittal of these various reports to the Government they were remitted to the Academy of A gri- culture for further consideration, and the movement stands in this con- dition at present. RUSSIA. In Russia there is no one official charged with the work in economic entomology, although the question of how to enact effective measures for the destruction of noxious insects has for some time attracted the attention, not only of the General Government and district authorities, but also of scientific and agricultural societies, through whose combined 87 efforts more or less aggressive measures have been made possible. At the present time a proposition is on foot to establish an organization under the Ministry of Public Lands similar to the Division of Entomol- © ogy in our own Department of Agriculture. Up to the present time the authorities having the public lands in charge, both of the Central Government and the several provinces, have accomplished the result in the following way: Competent scientific men and specialists have been requested to prepare publications on injurious insects, and where these individuals have desired pecuniary aid to enable them to publish inde- pendent observations in this line the funds have been granted. As an example of this, the large three-volume work of Theo. Koéppen was published in this manner during the eighties. In addition, efficient specialists have been sent out by the central department to conduct at certain points series of observations upon the life histories and habits of injurious species. These investigations have been in part at the expense of the General Government and in part at the expense of the authorities of certain sections, and at the request of the governors of provinces and scientific and agricultural societies. The reports obtained from these different sources have been published and distributed to all those interested. In this manner a large number of the most injurious insects have been successfully studied, and many unknown facts in their life histories have been brought out. Among these investiga- tions may be especially mentioned one conducted in 1879 on the life history and habits of Anisoplia austriaca, by Lindeman, Portschinsky, Tarochewsky, and Metschnikoff, and incidentaily to this the damage done by Cephus pygmeus and Cecidomyia destructor was studied by Portschinsky and Lindemann, and a series of special bulletins pub- lished bearing upon these two insects. In 1880 Chlorops teniopus and Plusia gamma were studied by the same observers, and at the same time a voluminous report was prepared treating of the insects injuri- ous to the culture of sugar beets in the districts Woronesch, Kharkow, Kursk, and Podolia. Among the more important insects studied was Cleonus punctiventris, the natural history of which was incompletely known at the time. In the same year two of the joint-worms, known as Isosoma noxiale and I. hordei, were studied by Portschinsky. Dur- ing the years following investigations were conducted in other prov- inces upon Hydrecia nictitans and Chetocnema hortensis by Philipjew, while still later tobacco insects were studied in the province of Bes- sarabia, particular attention being paid to Thrips solanacearum. At the same time observations were made by Képpen upon injurious locusts and a few other insects in the country of the Don Cossacks. In 1891 an important general work treating of the insects injurious to Russian agriculture was published. Investigations relative to insects injurious _ to gardens were undertaken throughout the greater part of south- eastern Russia, in some of the central districts, in the Caucasus, Bes- sarabia, and part of Turkestan. Thorough investigations have also 88 been conducted upon insects injurious to orchards in the Crimea, which have been published in a work comprising three parts. In the first part the Pyralids and Tineids are described; in the second part Schi- zoneura lanigera and several other plant-lice by Cholodkowsky, and in the third part Coleoptera and other insects. Further publications con- cerning the noxious insects of the country about Khwalinsk and those of the district of Kharkow, have been issued. In the first-mentioned locality, Rhynchites paurillus and hk. auratus, and also to some degree Anthonomus incurvus were particularly studied, while some observa- tions were made also upon Psylla mali, and in the latter locality three species of Rhynchites and a Scolytus, in addition to Oxythyrea stictica and Tropinota hirta, were special objects of study. Among insects injuri- ous to forests observations have been made upon various kinds of Bos- trichide, as well as several other beetles, and Lepidoptera, by Linde- man and Schewyrow. Particular attention was paid to the destruc- tion of Psilura monacha (the nun moth), Ocneria dispar (the gypsy moth), Bombyx pint, Bupalus piniarius, and Zeuzera pyrina (the leopard moth), by Schewyrow. I have entered into these details somewhat fuily on account of the inaccessibility to the American worker of these papers, which are pub- lished in the Russian language, a tongue which is little known in this country. This mention will sufficiently characterize the activity of the entomologists who have been detailed by the Department of Agricul- ture. The department has also, in particularly important cases, called conferences and established temporary commissions. Three Phylloxera experiment stations or commissions have been established in this way— one in the Caucasus, another in the Crimea, and a third at Odessa. The expenses of these three commissions or experiment stations are paid by the Department of Agriculture. Experts are in charge and direct investigations and experiments. The results are forwarded to the central department and published. The correspondence of the Department of Lands and Agriculture in regard to injurious insects has increased so greatly of late years that a rather peculiar feature has been introduced. A request has been sent out by the department to a number of entomologists not officially con- nected with it soliciting their assistance, and a contingent of so-called ‘‘ correspondents on entomological questions” has been formed. Most of the correspondents are members of the Russian Entomological Society, although living in different parts of the empire. To these correspondents agriculturists and local agricultural societies look for advice as to the best means of fighting injurious insects. In 1878 the authorities of Odessa created the Odessa Entomological Commission, which was at first almost entirely dependent upon appro ' priations from the provinces of Cherson, Taur, and Bessarabia. In 1887 a regular entomologist was employed, since which date the authorities of Poltaw and Jekaterinslaw have also provided funds for the support 89 of the commission. This commission not only answers all questions directed to it, but sends out specialists to different neighboring dis- tricts to conduct investigations on demand. The bulk of this information concerning the status of affairs in Russia I have received through the kindness of Dr. Nicolas Cholodkowsky, professor in the Forestry Institute and in the Imperial Academy of Medicine at St. Petersburg. 1 have also corresponded with Dr. K. Lindeman, a well-known writer on entomology, whose work has been more accessible to American and English investigators for the reason that many of his papers have been published in the German language. He writes me that while he holds no official position, he has been cir- culating many thousands of copies of brochures upon entomological subjects, and has given lectures upon the subject of economic ento- mology in various cities. He receives annually from 400 to 500 invoices of insects, and inquiries regarding the best means of fighting them. He is at present advocating the establishment of separate commissions on economic entomology at various points throughout the empire, with a central entomological commission at the Ministry of Agriculture at St. Petersburg. FINLAND. Finland, although an administrative province of Russia, at the last quinquennial meeting of the Diet made an independent effort to secure the establishment of an entomological experiment station. The reso- lution was in the form of an application to His Imperial Majesty to bring about the establishment of such a station. Three of the four chambers composing the Diet voted affirmatively on the resolution. These were the nobility, clergy, and bourgeoisie, but curiously enough the fourth chamber, the farmers or peasants, voted against it. It is likely, however, that such a station will be established in the near future, and that Mr. Enzio Reuter will be its director, as I am informed by Mr. Lampa. . SOUTH AMERICA. The ravages of the migratory locust in South America have attracted considerable attention, and in several states fugitive commissions have been formed for the investigation of this insect. Dr. Herman Bur- meister, the famous author of the Handbuch der Entomologie, and for many years resident in Buenos Ayres in the capacity of director of the National Museum, while not official entomoijogist to the Argentine Republic, devoting most of his time to the study of paleontology and the building up of a general museum, made large collections of insects, and in 1861, in his Reise durch die Plata Staaten, a two-volume work published in Halle, utilized his official observations to summarize previous writings upon locusts in Argentina and to give a compara- tively full account of the life history of the insect and the damage which it almost annually produced. In the same way Dr. H. Weyenbergh 90 and Dr. E. Oldendorff, also German employés of the Argentine Govern- ment, investigated and reported upon injurious locusts during the years 1874 and 1876. alpine zone, doubtless on such lines as have been already indicated by Dr. Merriam and Mr. Coville for points farther west. Thus, what may be termed the region of Solanum elcagnifolium extends up the Rio Grande Valley from E] Paso to Albuquerque, but at Sauta Fé this couspicuous roadside Solanum is wanting. Here, in its place, one meets 209 various Solanacez, one of which, S. rostratum, is characteristic of the sub-alpine of Colorado, but is wanting in the mid-alpine Further details of this sort need not be now given, as I hope to be able to describe the Santa Fé insect fauna at greater length hereafter, in comparison with that of other localities. The more noteworthy insect pests which have so far come under observation may now be briefly mentioned. (A) IMPORTED SPECIES. These are mentioned first, being the most troublesome. (1) OF BOTH MESILLA VALLEY AND SANTA FE. The codling moth (Carpocapsa pomonella), though unknown in either locality ten years ago, is now extremely injurious, being altogether the worst insect pest in the Territory. Mr. Boyle, of Santa Fé, informs me that he has seen the native jays in his garden eating the larva, finding them in places where they had gone to pupate. Mr. H. Casad, of Mesilla, remarked to me that in that locality many of the larve entered the fruit at the side. This statement was confirmed by an examination of his orchard in company with him. In the Mesilla Valley apples injured by the codling moth are attacked by Dro- sophila ampelophila; but this fly has not yet been detected at Santa Fé. The house fly (Musca domestica). There does not seem to be any reason for sup- posing that this insect is a true native of New Mexico, though it is now of course everywhere established. In the Mesilla Valley and at Albuquerque it is extremely numerous, but much less so at Santa Fé. At Las Cruces I found Eucoila impatiens Say (identified by Mr. Ashmead) on horse dung in a corral, and suspected it might have been parasitic on house-fly larve breeding in the dung. So long as the town is full of corrals, cleaned out at not very frequent intervals, the fly plague seems inevitable. The common cockroach, apparently true Blatta orientalis, is found abundantly in Las Cruces, and more rarely in Santa Fé. In my house in Las Cruces I caught an apparently undescribed Evania, which is probably parasitic, on the eggs of the Blatta. The large Periplaneta americana has not been observed. The cabbage aphis (Aphis brassice) is sufficiently plentiful in both localities. At Las Cruces it is parasitized by Allotria brassice Ashm. The woolly aphis (Schizoneura lanigera) is fairly common. (2) OF MESILLA VALLEY ONLY. The San José scale (Aspidiotus perniciosus) is well established at Las Cruces, but has only just reached the neighboring town of Mesilla. It has also been detected at Chamberino. The sesiid peach-borer (S, exitiosa) no doubt has been imported, and I have my- self seen it in peach trees only just received from Missouri, and not yet planted. The peach shield-scale (Lecanium persice) is found at Las Cruces, but so far has done no serious damage. The cottony scale of the Osage orange (Pulvinaria maclure) has been introduced, and is found on a tree in Las Cruces, and also in a hedge between Las Cruces and Mesilla. The Osage orange hedges in Mesilla, raised from seed by Mr. Bull, of that place, appear to be free from the scale. There is also a large Lecanium (a new species or a variety of L. rebiniarum Dougl.) on Osage orange in Las Cruces. Stored grain suffers from the attacks of Tribolium confusum and Calandra granaria. 210 (3) OF SANTA FE ONLY. The pear and cherry slug (Eriocampa cerasi Peck) is well established in at least two Santa Fé orchards, and doing serious damage. The box-elder trees planted in the streets are doing very well, but some are affected by Aspidiotus ancylus Putnam. There is also on these trees an apparently new species of Lecanium, allied to L. persice. L. persice is above given for Mesilla Valley only, but what may be the same has just been found in Santa Fé on peach. One can not pronounce very certainly as to these scales without amore careful examination than I have yet found opportunity to make. Lecanium hesperidum has been found badly injuring oleander, and also infesting other plants in pots. It may here be mentioned, also, that in hothouses one finds Dactylopius citri, Aspidiotus ficus, and Lecanium olee—the first two troublesome. Roses are affected by a Lecanium which, superficially at any rate, looks like ZL. rosarum Snell., of Europe. Iam informed that roses have been imported to Santa Fé direct from France, and this may well have come with them. (B) NATIVE SPECIES. (1) OF BOTH MESILLA VALLEY AND SANTA FB. A Phleotribus, which Capt. Casey thinks best referred as a variety to P. liminaris, attacks various fruit trees, viz, apple in Mesilla, plum and cherry in Santa Fé. It appears only to injure trees which are failing in health from other causes, and is thus not a very pernicious insect. Lygus pratensis is common enough on alfalfa and elsewhere. The bean ladybird (Epilachna corrupta) seems equally injurious in both localities. The corn worm (Heliothis armiger) is similarly troublesome in both places. Pieris protodice is likewise distributed; the same may doubtless be said of Plusia brassice. The Coruco (Cimex inodorus) of Las Cruces I have not seen at Santa Fe, though I saw morethan enough of C. lectularius. However, Mr. Boyle describes to me the occurrence in numbers at Santa Fé of what could only be C. inodorus. Hyphantria cunea, so excessively abundant on the cottonwoods at Las Cruces, is rather uncommon at Santa Fé, according to my observation. The screw-worm fly (Compsomyia macellaria) is common in both localities. (2) OF MESILLA VALLEY ONLY. The western June beetle (Allorhina mutabilis) is very common and rather variable; so far as known, its habits resemble those of the eastern representative of the genus. The tornillo bag-worm (Oiketicus townsendi), which occurs on the wild tornillo (Prosopis pubescens), has taken to the cultivated locust, and more especially to the apple. So far, it has not become sufficiently numerous to do very much harm. The Prionus borer in fruit trees is said to cause the loss of many trees, although it can not yet be said that we fully understand this pest. At Santa Fé there is also a Prionus which very likely will prove injurious. ds The twelve-spotted cucumber-beetle (Diabrotica 12-punctata) is excessively abun- dant, and must be held responsible for a fair amount of damage. At Santa Fé this species has been taken by one of the Boyle family about two years ago; but I have not myself met with it there, so it must be too scarce to be injurious. Hence [I put it with the injurious insects ‘‘of Mesilla Valley only.” The squash bug (Anasa tristis) is abundant and troublesome. The army worm (Leucania unipuncta) did considerable damage last year. A mite (Bryobia pratensis), identified by Mr. Howard, abounds on apple and pear trees, causing the leaves to turn yellow. I place it with doubt as a native species ; very likely it was imported from the Eastern States. 211 A gray bug (Brochymena obscura, according to Mr. Howard) is common on fruit- trees, and is believed to puncture the young fruit of the peach. Its eggs are para-. sitized by a species of Trissolcus. This, apparently the first Proctotrypid recorded from New Mexico, is stated by Mr. Ashmead to be new. The grapevine hopper (Typhlocyba) is common, and at times destructive to the crop. A small buffalo gnat (Simulium occidentale Twns.) is abundant in the early sum- mer and very annoying. (3) OF SANTA FE ONLY. The grubs of Polyphylla abound and are much complained of as injuring the roots of trees and other plants. Rhynchites bicolor is very troublesome, eating holes in the buds and bud stalks of roses, also eating the expanded petals. Euphoria is sometimes found on fruits, but I think does no serious harm. A very variable Cacecia (probably C. argyrospila) infests cherry, pear, box-elder, and plum; sometimes eating into the fruit of plum and pear. It was noticed in seriously injurious numbers on a plum tree. This may very well be an imported insect. Many other insects might be mentioned, if one were to attempt a com- plete list, but the present notes, made from memory without any attempt to compile the records, may serve to give a general impression of the condition of affairs. The time is not ripe for anything very elaborate, but those who desire further information will find much that is interesting in Prof. Townsend’s various papers, based on the work done by him as Territoria! entomologist. To sum up, even from our fragmentary information, I think the fol- lowing facts may be held self-evident : (1) New Mexico is not at present very much harassed by insect pests, but prob- ably the injury due to insects has at least doubled per acre of cultivated ground during the last ten years. a (2) This increase of injury is due almost entirely to imported species, especially to the codling moth. (3) While not many of the native species are greatly to be feared, there are numerous Eastern and Western insects which will certainly be imported if due meas- ures are not taken to examine trees and plants received into the Territory. Such. for instance, are the mussei scale of the apple (Mytilaspis pomorum), the rose saw- tlies, the pear-tree Psylla, etc. (4) Several pests found now in the Mesilla Valley are not to be seen at Santa Fé, and vice versa. It may here be noted that I am informed that the plum curculio has reached Santa Fé, thongh I have not seen specimens. It has not reached the Mesilla Valley. One insect, omitted above, should perhaps be mentioned. It is the Aspidiotus juglans-regie var. albus. It occurs on ash in Las Cruces and Mesilla, and on pear and apricot, quite locally, in Mesilla. So far it has not done enough harm to attract attention, but it may become a serious pest. Its occurence on the ash trees in the streets suggests that it may be a native of New Mexico, since these trees were brought from the mountains not very far distant. 5216—No. 2——11 212 SOME EXPERIENCE WITH MOSQUITOES. By Howarp Evarts WEED, Agricultural College, Miss. While it has been known for some time that a small amount of kero- sene placed upon water containing the larve of the mosquito will kill the larvee and thus to some extent lessen the number of mosquitoes in a locality, it was not until Mr. Howard gave his experience with the remedy that we realized how easy it was to rid a locality of the mos- quito pest. Inthe French quarter of New Orleans it has been a com- mon practice for many years to place kerosene in the water tanks to lessen the number of mosquitoes in that locality; but I know of nothing that has been written showing that such is the case, and in this age of advancement we can no longer go by hearsay evidence. Every- thing must be founded upon known facts, and these facts can only be ascertained by experiment. Thinking that some experience with the kerosene remedy for mosquitoes which I have had this season might be of interest, I wish to state the following as corroborative of what Mr. Howard has shown in regard to the simplicity of the remedy. On the college campus are eleven large water tanks, two of which are used for drinking water and the others for irrigation and fire pro- tection Not far from the limits of the campus are also four pools of standing water, three of which are used for watering stock and the other for irrigation in the horticultural department. These pools, how- ever, are well stocked with fish, and as I have never found any mos- quito larve in the pools, I am under the impression that the fish keep the pools clear of them. Before the water tanks were built the college campus had been quite free from mosquitoes, but the evil has been constantly upon the increase, reaching its climax early the present season. I have often advised that a small amonnt of kerosene be placed in each of the water tanks, and the college proctor several times informed me that he ‘‘ had a nig- ger put kerosene in the tanks every week, but it did no good.” The college physician also stated that he had placed some kerosene in a jar of water containing some of the wiggletails, but that the kerosene had not killed them, thus regarding the remedy recommended as inef- fective. By the 20th of June of the present year mosquitoes had become so numerous on the college campus as to make life a burden, and sleeping without a mosquito bar was out of the question. Wishing to demon- strate the effectiveness of the remedy which I had recommended, I took a large glass jar and filled it nearly full with water from one of the tanks, which was fairly alive with the mosquito larve. The jar con- tained several hundred of the larve and I took it to the college physi. - cian, poured a little kerosene in the jar, and asked him to please watch the effect. This was as expected, for within fifteen minutes all the larve 213 were dead. Upon visiting the various tanks I found that four of them contained the mosquito larve in very large numbers, as I had expected - to find. The other tanks, with one exception, are within closed build- ings in which the mosquitoes are not apt to breed, as they are situated in dark garrets and used for fire protection. The exception noted was a tank used for general household purposes, and the gentleman owning itassured me that he placed a cup of kerosene in the tank every Monday morning. June 26, I placed in each tank a gallon of kerosene with the result that ten days later the mosquitoes had almost entirely disap- peared from the campus, and we were able to sleep without mosquito bars. The amount of kerosene used was much more than would have been necessary, and I am sure the same work would have been accom- plished had only five of the tanks been treated, these being the only ones that are outdoors and not protected much. AI] the outdoor tanks are covered, but there are many cracks where the mosquitoes can get in and out. An examination of the tanks has been made about once a week since the kerosene was put on, and on July 18 more kerosene was put in two of the tanks. Uponall the outdoor tanks a thin film of ker- osene has remained since the kerosene was putin. The campusis now _hearly free from mosquitoes and has been so since ten days after the kerosene treatment. Hereafter during the summer kerosene will be put in the outdoor tanks, putting in enough to keep a thin film over the top of the water. ' I have also found that kerosene is also a good article to use to pre- vent mosquitoes from annoying one when the mosquitoes are numerous. To use it for this purpose a little is smeared on the back of the hands and also upon the face. At first thought this would seem to be a disa- greeable operation, but a trial of it will prove that it is not disagreeable in the least. It is quite effective in keeping the mosquitoes away and is much better than the Florida method, which I have been told is to remain secreted under a large iron kettle and with a hammer clinch the bills of the mosquitoes as they are thrust through the kettle. The report of the committee on nominations was presented by the chairman, Mr. Lintner, as follows: President, John B. Smith; Vice-President, C. H. Fernald; Secretary, C. L. Marlatt. The report of the committee was unanimously adopted, and the officers named duly elected. {Inadvertently no second vice-president was nominated or elected.| Mr. Smith moved that the usual custom be followed as to the time and place of meeting next year, namely, that it should be on the two days immediately preceding the meeting of the American Association 214 for the Advancement of Science and at the place decided upon for the next meeting of that Association. On motion of Mr. Smith also, it was requested that the proceedings of the Association be printed in full in INSECT LIFE. The minutes of the entire session were then read by the Secretary, and approved. Mr. Southwick moved that the hearty thanks of the Association be tendered to the President and Secretary for the able and satisfactory manner in which they had discharged their respective duties. The meeting was then declared adjourned. C. L. MARLATT, Acting Secretary. LIST OF MEMBERS, ASSOCIATION OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGISTS. AMERICAN MEMBERS. J. M. Aldrich, Moscow, Idaho. | J.A. Lintner, Albany, N. Y. Wm. B. Alwood, Blacksburg, Va. Otto Lugger, St. Anthony Park, Minn. Wm. H. Ashmead, Washington, D. C. | B.Pickman Mann, Washington, D.C. Geo. F. Atkinson, Ithaca, N. Y. C. L. Marlatt, Washington, D.C. C. F. Baker, Fort Collins, Colo. John Marten, Champaign, Ill. Nathan Banks, Sea Cliff, N. Y. H. A. Morgan, Baton Rouge, La. M. H. Beckwith, Newark, Del. Mary E. Murtfeldt, Kirkwood, Mo. C.J.S. Bethune, Port Hope, Ontario. F. J. Niswander, Laramie, Wyo. Lawrence Bruner, Lincoln, Nebr. Herbert Osborn, Ames, Iowa. John Pp. Campbell, Athens, Ga. A.S. Packard, Providence, R. I. C. E, Chambliss, Knoxville, Tenn. Theo. Pergande, Washington, D.C. F. H. Chittenden, Washington, D.C. G. H. Perkins, Burlington, Vt. T. D. A. Cockerell, Las Cruces, N. Mex. E. A. Popenoe, Manhattan, Kans. J.H. Comstock, Ithaca, N. Y. F. W. Rane, Morgantown, W. Va. A. J. Cook, Claremont, Cal. E. Baynes Reed, Esquimault, British D. W. Coquillett, Washington, D.C. Columbia. A. B. Cordley, Pinckney, Mich. C. V. Riley, Washington, D.C. G. C. Davis, Agricultural College, Mich. P. H. Rolfs, Lake City, Fla. E. W. Doran, Enfield, Tl. Wm. Saunders, Ottawa, Ontario. C. H. Fernald, Amherst, Mass. F. A. Sirrine, Jamaica, N. Y. James Fletcher, Ottawa, Ontario. M. V. Slingerland, Ithaca, N. Y. S. A. Forbes, Champaign, III. John B. Smith, New Brunswick, N. J. H. Garman, Lexington, Ky. F. H. Snow, Lawrence, Kans. C. P. Gillette, Fort Collins, Colo. E. B. Southwick, New York City. F. W. Goding, Rutland, II. J.M. Stedman, Auburn, Ala. H. A. Gossard, Ames, Iowa. James Stimson, Watsonville, Cal. C. W. Hargitt, Syracuse, N. Y. H. E. Summers, Champaign, III. Chas. A. Hart, Champaign, III. HC jest; Washington, DAC: F. L. Harvey, Orono, Me. Roland Thaxter, Cambridge, Mass. F. H. Hillman, Reno, Nev. J. W.Toumey, Tucson, Ariz. ASD: Hopkins, Morgantown, W.Va. C. H. T. Townsend, Las Cruces,N. Mex. L. O. Howard, W ashington, DEC. F. L. Washburn, Corvallis, Oreg. H.G. Hubbard, Washington, DC: F. M. Webster, Wooster, Ohio. Geo. H. Hudson, Plattsburg, 'N. Y. Clarence M. Weed, Durham, N..H. Geo. D. Hulst, Brooklyn, N. Y. H. E. Weed, Agricultural College, Miss. D.S. Kellicott, Columbus, Ohio. K.V. Wilcox, Cambridge, Mass. V. H. Lowe, Jamaica, N. Y. C. W. Woodworth, Berkeley, Cal. 215 FOREIGN MEMBERS. J. Ritzema Bos, Wageningen, Holland. Geo. H. Carpenter, Science and Art Museum, Dublin, Ireland. N, Cholodkowsky, Institut Forestier, St. Petersburg, Russia. E. C. Cotes, Indian Museum, Calcutta, India. J. Danysz, Laboratoire de Parasitologie, Bourse de Commerce, Paris, France. Charles French, Government Building, Melbourne, Australia. Walter W. Froggatt, Technological Museum, Sydney, Australia. A. Giard, 14 rue Stanislaus, Paris, France. Geza Horvath, Ministry of Agriculture, Budapest, Austria. Sven Lampa, Entomologist, Department of Agriculture, Stockholm, Sweden. K. Lindeman, Landwirthschaftliche Akademie, Moscow, Russia. Eleanor A. Ormerod, Torrington House, St. Albans, England. A. Sidney Oiliff, Australian Museum, Sydney, Australia. A. Portschinsky, Bur. Entom., Miuistére de Agriculture, St. Petersburg, Russia. E. C. Reed, Bafios de las Cauquenos, Chile. Arthur E. Shipley, Cambridge, England. W. M. Schoéyen, Christiania, Norway. A. Targioni-Tozzetti, R. Staz. d. Entom. Agrar., Florence, Italy. Edward H. Thompson, Hobarttown, Tasmania. H. Tryon, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Charles Whitehead, Barming House, Maidstone, Kent, England. R. Allan Wight, Paeroa, Auckland, New Zealand. © Vol. VII, No. 3.] INSHeE Lik: [Issued December, 1894 SPECIAL NOTES. The Need of Quarantine Laws in the East.—Readers of INSECT LIFE are aware, from items which have been published from time to time, of the _fact that the State of California has in forcea quarantine law which oper- ates against the importation of nursery stock affected by injurious insects or plant diseases new to California. Similar regulations are in force in New Zealand and some of the Australian colonies. In Idaho a law was enacted at a recent session of the legislature which, while it is pri- marily an inspection law, authorizes the entrance of horticultural com- missioners into packing houses, storerooms, and salesrooms, in addi- tion to orchards and nurseries, and thus operates to a certain extent as a quarantine regulation. The necessity for similar regulations in our Eastern States has never been greater than it is today, and is every year emphasized by the importation of new insect enemies from abroad, while destructive species from the west and south are encroaching upon and entering northern and eastern territory. The importation into eastern orchards of the San José scale, to which we have referred in Nos. 1 and 2 of this volume, and the introduction of the pear Agrilus from Europe into New Jersey orchards, as pointed out in the present number, are cases in point. The State legislatures should take this matter in hand. They will do it at the instance of State horticultural societies and other societies of agriculturists or horticulturists. The excellent California and Idaho laws will serve as models upon which to frame laws for other States. The Double-broodedness of the Codling Moth.—Prof. J. B. Smith’s obser- vations, which show the codling moth to be apparently single-brooded at New Brunswick, N. J., surprised us and will be also a surprise to those entomologists who were not familiar with an important article by Mr. C. A. Atkins in Agriculture of Maine, for 1883. The whole question as to the number of broods of this important insect in the Northeast is once more opened up, and entomologists favorably located will do well to conduct careful experiments the following season. The facts on record concerning the number of broods in this and other 217 218 parts of the country have been brought together by Mr. Marlatt, who has also added his own personal experience in an article which is pub- lished in this number. The Chinch Bug in 1894.—We publish in this number the conclusions reached by Prof. Herbert Osborn on this subject, after a trip through lowa during the month of July, undertaken at our instance. Prof. Forbes early in the season foresaw the possibility of very consider- able damage by chinch bugs this year, and wrote to this office suggest- ing codperative study throughout the threatened states, for the pur- pose of making a broad investigation of conditions and surround- ings—a broader one, in fact, than has heretofore been made or could well be undertaken by any one state officer. Prof. Korbes engaged to do the work for Illinois; Chancellor Snow for Kansas; Director Porter for Missouri; and we were asked to send agents into Iowa and Nebraska. After correspondence with Prof. Bruner we ascertained that investigation of Nebraska reports showed that nearly all were unfounded, and therefore no work was done in that state. Prof. Osborn, however, undertook a commission for a month, and the mate- rial which we publish consists of his conclusions from his investigations in Iowa. We learn from Prof. Forbes that he has been so fully oceu- pied in studying the one phase of the subject regarding the practical use of contagious diseases that he has not been able to carry out the proposed work as thoroughly as he desired. _ The general codpera- tive series has, then, been partially a failure. Prof. Osborn’s obser- vations, however, are valuable, and his full report will be digested and published, together with the incidental observations which have been made in Illinois and other states. His inferences regarding the question of hibernation are significant, and will bear comparative ~ reading with Mr. Marlatt’s paper in this number on the same subject. Reviews of Entomological Publications.—One of the features of the pre- vious volumes of INSECT LIFE was the publication of many reviews of experiment station reports and bulletins and other papers bearing upon economic entomology, under thehead of ‘‘ Special Notes,” and the inser- tion under ‘‘General Notes” of other reviews of papers for the most part not of especial economic bearing, but of general interest either popularly or to the special class of readers interested in scientific work in entomology. At the same time another division of the Department of Agriculture, the Office of Experiment Stations, has been issuing a most useful publication entitled Experiment St ition Record, which has been devoted entirely to abstracts of the publications of the different experiment stations in this country, and to short notes derived from foreign publications of a similar character. This Experiment Station 219 Record is published in sufficiently large edition to reach all American workers in scieutific branches as applied to agriculture, and it seems unnecessary that any duplication of labor should occur with two divi sions of the same Department. It has, therefore, been decided thatin the future INSEcT LIFE will contain no abstracts or reviews of publi- cations bearing upon agricultural entomology. Persons desiring to see abstracts of such publications should apply to the Department to be placed upon the mailing list of the Experiment Station Record. We are aware that perhaps this move will detract from the general read- ability of INSECT LIFE, but it is necessary to thoroughly systematize publications in so large a Department as the Department of Agricul- ture has grown to be. DAMAGE BY THE AMERICAN LOCUST. By L. O. Howarp. Fig. 19.—Schistocerca americana, adult—natural size (original). The large ‘‘American Acridium,” as it was formerly called (Schisto- cerca americana Drury), the popular name of which has been changed to the ‘‘ American Locust,” in view of the change of the generic name, has been figured and described in many works on economic entomology, and has always been considered a more or less destructive insect. It occurs throughout the southern States, from the District of Columbia to Texas, and south through Mexico into Yucatan and Central America. It is also found as far north as Illinois and Indiana, and is doubtfully reported from New York, while Prof. J. B. Smith tells me that he has taken specimens at Newark and New Brunswick, N. J. Since 1876, | when the insect did very considerable damage in Missouri, Tennessee, Indiana, Ohio, North Carolina, Georgia, and southern Virginia, it has not been reported as having occurred in especially large numbers. The present year, however, there has been a local outbreak of a severity possibly unprecedented in the history of this insect. This locality comprises the country about Roanoke, Va., and the outbreak was first called to our attention early in August by Mr. E. C. Moomaw, of Roanoke, who wrote that the locusts made their appearance on July - 1, and at the time of writing covered a territory of 30,000 acres, destroy- ing everything green. Realizing that with this insect we have a some- what different life history from the majority of injurious locusts, which renders it, on the whole, a more difficult insect to fight, we deemed the outbreak worthy of careful investigation, and therefore sent Mr. Coquil- lett to look the ground over and to consult with the individuals own- ing damaged property and that liable to future damage. His report is 220 221 full and interesting, and is appended. The variation in life history referred to above consists in the fact that the insect hibernates as an adult, and lays its eggs in May and June. Most other injurious spe- cies, it will be remembered, lay their eggs in the autumn, and these eggs hibernate. Late fall and winter plowing, therefore, usually affords a good remedy in the case of other species. With the American locust other means have to be adopted, and these are found in the use of hopper-dozers while the insects are yet unfledged, and in the use of the bran-arsenic mash for both unfledged and winged individuals. Experi- ments tried by Mr. Coquillett, and which are detailed in his report, show that the poisoned mash seems very attractive to this species, and indicate that by its use at the proper time much damage may be pre- dented. The cause of this extraordinary local abundance of the insect is diffi- cult to ascertain. Mr. Coquillett is inclined to follow the popular local opinion in attributing it to a successful hibernation on account of the mildness of the winter of 1893~'94. As a general rule, however, we Fic. 20.—Schistocerca americana: a, first stage; b, second stage; c, third stage—enlarged twice (original). believe that mild winters, particularly when followed by late and severe spring frosts, as was the casein the spring of 1894, are not so favorable to successful hibernation as uniformly severe winters, and we are inclined to think that we must look further for the cause of this out- break. Last year extensive forest fires in the region about Roanoke may have had someinfluence. The comparative drought of the present summer may have been favorable to the development of the insect in greater numbers than usual. Other and unknown causes, appearing to produce a smaller number of natural enemies than customary, may also have been immediate factors. Such speculations, however, are of little practical account, and the important fact is that the insect was present in great numbers and may increase and spread another year. Curiously enough, although the species is everywhere common throughout the South, its early stages have not been figured, and, so 2299 far as we know, have not been described. We therefore take the oppor- tunity of presenting careful drawings of the five different stages and present colorational details. Thespecies appears to be quite as hand- some in immaturity as is the adult form. Prof. Riley seems to have studied this species in captivity and to have observed the laying of eggs and hatching, since he gives certain details concerning these processes in the First Report of the U.S, Entomological Commission. For instance, he says (p. 221) that from mature insects captured June 14 the eggs were deposited June 24, and (p. 226) that the eggs are irregularly arranged, as is the case with Caloptenus differentialis and Cidipoda phanecoptera, and that in this species the cement which binds the eggs together is more copious than in the others. he number of eggs he states (p. 228) to be about 120, and (p. 232) that they hatch in rather more than a month, while it is said (p. 237) that the average period between hatching and maturity is 70 days. This would bring the adults out at St. Louis about Sep- tember 1. Fia. 21.—Schistocerca americana, tourth stage—natural size (original). The different stages collected by Mr. Coquillett and sent in by Mr. Moomaw may be described briefly as follows: First stage.—No trace of wing-pads; antenne thirteen-jointed, the eighth joint noticeably lounger than either of the others; color, nearly a uniform wine red. Length, 10 ™™, : Second stage.—Wing-pads are indicated, but the posterior pair scarcely encroach on the following segment of the body; antennz seventeen-jointed, the third joint slightly longer than any of the others; colors, yellowish-gray, mottled with black- ish, a black streak beneath each eye, a black dorsal stripe extending the entire length of the head and body, an indefinite black spot on each side of the thorax, includiug the wing-pads, also two black spots on each hind femur, the apex of the latter, base of each hind tibia and the antenne, black. Length, 12 ™™., Third stage.—Wing-pads distinct, projecting obliquely downward and backward, the posterior pair encroaching upon but not attaining the middle of the segment back of them; antennz from twenty to twenty-two jointed; colors and markings as in the preceding stage, except that the ground color is extremely variable in the different individuals, ranging all the way from a yellowish-gray through grayish- yellow, bright yellow, greenish-yellow to bright green; those of a green color usually have the black markings very faint. Length, 18 ™™, Fourth stage.—Wing-pads of a considerable size, projecting obliquely upward and backward, the tips of the posterior pair nearly reaching the hind margin of the suc- ceeding segment; antennz twenty-five-jointed; color and markings as in the pre- ceding stage. Length, 28™™. 223 Fifth stage.—Wing-pads large, projecting backward, their tips attaining the hind edge of the segment back of the one to which they are attached; antenne twenty- - six-jointed; color and markings as in the third stage. Length, 38 ™™. Fic. 22.—Schistocerca americana, fifth stage—natural size (original). At the next casting of the skin, full wings appear. Mr. Coquillett’s report of the observations which he made from August 27 to 31 follows: MR. COQUILLETT’S REPORT. The infested district.—The region in which this grasshopper (Schisto- cerca americana Drury) occurred in destructive numbers, is situated in Roanoke county, in the southwestern partof Virginia, at the base, or rather among the foothills, of the Blue Ridge Mountains. ‘The topog- raphy of the country is very irregular, consisting of hills of greater or less elevation, with intervening valleys. The soil is a rich, clayey loam. The area in which they occurred in the greatest numbers contains about four square miles. Within this area twenty-five acres of oats and Seventy-five acres of clover had been entirely ruined by them; two fields of corn containing one hundred acres each had been almost stripped of their leaves, and several other fields of less extent had been treated in a similar manner. It was a curious but repeatedly demon- strated fact that the grasshoppers manifested a decided preference for the leaves of the older and nearly matured corn, while the younger corn plants almost entirely escaped their ravages. In a few instances the silk and husks at the ends of the ears of corn had been devoured, and in rare instances they had fed upon the nearly ripened kernels-of corn. Where the husks had thus been eaten away, the ears were exposed to the rains and fogs, and frequently molded from this cause. In this infested area various kinds of fruit trees had been almost com- pletely defoliated by the grasshoppers, which had gnawed the bark from the smaller twigs and also eaten large cavities in the apples still hanging on the trees. It was very noticeable that the leaves at the top of the trees had first been attacked, while those lowest down on the trees were the last to be attacked. They showed an evident preference for the leaves of apple and cherry trees, while those of pear trees 224 although eaten, were less to their liking; mulberry trees growing in the midst of other trees that had been defoliated entirely escaped their ravages. Peach and walnut trees had been completely defoliated. Locust trees (Pseudacacia robinia) were great favorites, and wherever one of these trees grew in the infested district it bore, almost without exception, evidences of having been visited by the grasshoppers, which not only devoured the leaves, but also the bark on the smaller twigs. The leaves of hickory and oak trees growing along or in the cultivated fields were also eaten, but the insects did not occur in the more central portion of the woodlands, showing an evident preference for the open fields. The leaves of the cultivated sunflower had been considerably eaten; also the strap-leaves of the flowers, but the seeds had not been touched. The leaves of cotton plants had also been eaten, but not to any great extent; the smaller twigs in several instances had been completely girdled. The leaves of sumac trees and those of the Virginia. creeper had been considerably eaten. It was repeatedly noticed that the low-growing cultivated piants had almost completely escaped their ravages. Melon and pumpkin vines, sweet and Irish potatoes, as well as garden truck of all kinds, . were remarkably exempt. The same is also true of the weeds. growing in and around the cultivated fields, with the single exception of the rag-weed (Ambrosia trifida), which was somewhat eaten by them. ‘The other. kinds, such as Spanish-needles (Bidens frondosa), knot-weed (Polygonum aviculare), smartweed (Polygonum pennsylvanicum), James- town weed (Datura stramonium), and sand-briar (Solanwm carolinense), were scarcely at all eaten. The grasshoppers in all stages sometimes congregated in large numbers in low places in wheat stubble overgrown with weeds; still the latter showed no traces of having been eaten. In such places the only plants which gave evidences of having been eaten to any extent were the young plants of volunteer wheat, and these had been gnawed down until scarcely a vestige of them remained. Even the grass growing in such places had not been molested. Millet had been somewhat eaten, but where this grew by the side of a field of corn it was plainly to be seen that the leaves of the latter were preferred to those of the millet. The grasshoppers did not appear to attack the heads of the millet, confining their attention solely to the leaves; and, so far as observed, they had not succeeded in com- pletely destroying a single field, although the yield of several fields had been considerably reduced as a result of their attacks. Nor had they, so far as observed, completely destroyed a single field of corn. In the majority of instances the corn in the ear was too far advanced to be seriously injured by the loss of the leaves. The greatest loss, therefore, will be in the fodder, since in this section the farmers depend largely on their corn as food for the cattle during the winter season, and this will have lost much of its value from having been stripped of its leaves. 225 Just what this loss will amount to it would be difficult to ascertain. It has been variously estimated at from one-third to one-half the value of the corn crop for fodder, and doubtless the first figure represents approximately the loss. In addition to this there will be a greater or less shrinking of the corn in the ear from the loss, or partial loss, of its leaves, but in most cases this will be slight, since, as stated above, the corn was far advanced before the leaves had been injured to any great extent. Outside of the locality above mentioned these insects also occurred in destructive numbers, but in much more restricted areas, and the injury occasioned by them was principally confined to the outer rows of corn in fields adjoining clover or grain fields after these had been cut. Later in the season, as. soon as the grasshoppers had acquired wings, they dispersed over the cornfields, and the injury occasioned by them was therefore not so noticeable as at an earlier period, when they fed from day to day in nearly the same spot. This area in which they occurred in more or less restricted localities is comprised in a stretch of country about ten miles east and west by twelve miles north and south. As stated above, this entire territory was not overrun, but within it - they occurred in destructive numbers in several more or less restricted localities. It could not be learned that they occurred in such numbers at any point outside of this territory. Breeding grounds.—All indications point to the fact that these grass- hoppers issued from eggs deposited the present season in grain and clover fields within the infested districts. It was the universal testi- mony of the farmers in the infested localities that at the time of cutting their wheat, about the middle of June, the young insects were present in the wheat fields in large numbers, and even as late as the last week in August the young, recently-hatched individuals were still to be found even in the more central portions of these fields. On the other hand, none of them could be found in the central portions of the larger. corn- fields. When occurring at all in such fields they were always most abundant along the outer edges, indicating that they had originated in an adjoining field. It was also the testimony of the farmers that they had not observed any of the wingless ones in the more central portions of their cornfields. In tke clover fields the conditions were the same as in the wheat fields, the recently-hatched specimens being present even in the central portions of the largest fields, some of which were twenty-five acres in extent. In the woodlands no recently-hatched larve were observed, except along the outer edges adjoining grain and clover fields. Even the winged individuals did not penetrate far into the woods, but contented themselves with ‘ roosting” in the trees along the outer edges at night, where they would be within easy reach of the cultivated fields upon which to depredate the following day. 226 Development and habits of the insect.—Mr. W. P. Moomaw, who owns a large farm in the locality where the grasshoppers were the most abun- dant, and to whom the writer is indebted for much valuable informa- tion, informed me that he noticed them pairing in the month of May of the present year, and that he observed the recently-hatched ones early in June, while the first winged ones appeared early in the month of August. This would indicate only one annual brood, the individuals of which attain their wings late in Summer or in the autumn, and pass the winter in some sheltered place, pairing, and afterwards, depositing their eggs early in the following summer. The eggs, as is the case with those of other members of this family, are deposited in masses in holes made in the ground by the female grasshopper, the upper end of the egg-mass being nearly on a level with the surface of the earth. There is great irregularity in the time of hatching of the eggs, since, as stated above, recently-hatched larve belonging to the species under consideration were observed early in June and as late as the last week in August, while by the date last given fully two-thirds of them had already acquired wings. After issuing from the eggs, the young cast their skins five times before attaining wings. The habits of the winged forms are very inter- esting. Toward sunset numbers of them may be seen flying into the tops of neighboring trees, sometimes, in the case of a tall oak or hickory tree, alighting in the tops of these from twenty to thirty or more feet from the ground. Here they remain during the night, and early on the following day they again fly to the ground, usually not going any great distance from the trees in which they had passed the night. In the early part of the day they were fond of frequenting bare ground, especially the middle of roads and paths, while, if there were any boards lying on the ground in that vicinity, these formed favorite resting-places. Here they could be found congregated in large numbers, lying partially upon one side, apparently enjoying to the utmost the rays of the morning sun. Later in the day they could fre- quently be found in large numbers upon the droppings of horses in the roads, and they appeared to be feeding upon these droppings. Even in the orchards and corn-fields the winged individuals were fre- quently found upon the ground, although their favorite situations were on the taller weeds, stalks of corn, or in trees. In the afternoon of August 28, the writer witnessed a partial migra- tion of the winged ones. This began at about-one o’clock and lasted until half past three, there being a light breeze from the southeast at the time. All of the grasshoppers did not rise on the wing at once, but a few would start up in one place, some in another, and so on, until several thousand would be upon the wing at the same time. All of them took a northerly direction, and continued upon the wing until lost to view. The majority flew obliquely upward until attaining a height 227 of from fifty to eighty feet from the ground, after which they would continue at about this height until lost to view. The migration was not. continuous, there being intervals of from ten to twenty minutes, during which time scarcely a grasshopper would be seen on the wing. They would then start up again, and in a comparatively short time thousands of them could be seen upon the wing in every direction. This migra- tion ceased at about half past three o’clock in the afternoon. Scarcelya single winged specimen remained where there had been thousands of them before the migration began. It was feared that the migration was only temporary, and that they would return again at the changing of the wind, but this had not happened at the time of leaving this district about three days later. This migration occurred in the locality where these grasshoppers were the most numerous. It was reported that a Similar migration, but ona much smaller scale, had also taken place in one or two of the other infested districts. Other kinds of grasshoppers occurring in this district— Associated with the destructive species were five other kinds of grasshoppers, none of which were at all abundant. The species most frequently met with was the small, red-legged species, Melanoplus jfemur-rubrum DeG.; this was observed in all stages excepting the egg, but there was scarcely one specimen of this species to one thousand of the americana. The four other species observed in the infested district were the following: Dissosteira carolina Linn.; Chimerocephala viridi- fasciata DeG.; Encoptolophus sordidus Burm.; and Hippiscus tubercu- latus Beauv. The first of these was only occasionally met with, while the others were rarely seen. Cause of the undue increase.—Mr. W. P. Moomaw informed the writer that the species which occasioned so much damage the present season has infested that district as long as he can remember. He has been familiar with its appearance from boyhood, but it had never appeared in destructive numbers in that locality prior to last autumn, at which time it was present in unusual numbers in his orchard, attacking the leaves of his apple trees as well as gnawing large cavities in the grow- ing fruit. At the same time it also occurred in a neighboring corn- field, which, in a comparatively short time, became almost completely defoliated. It was the almost universal opinion of persons living in the infested district that the past winter was the mildest one they had experienced within the recollection of the proverbial ‘oldest inhabi- tant;” and this, taken in conjunction with something unusually favor- able to the rapid increase of the grasshoppers last season, is doubtless responsible for their appearing in such large numbers the present season. It has already been stated above that, in all probability, none of the individuals of this species deposit eggs the same season that they acquire wings, but pass the winter in some sheltered place and deposit their eggs early in the following summer; it therefore follows that any condition of the weather during the winter season that is 228 favorable to them in their winter quarters will result in a correspond- ing increase in their ranks during the succeeding summer. That such conditions existed in an exaggerated degree during the past winter has already been stated above, and the unusual increase in numbers the present season was therefore only what might have been expected under the circumstances. With a return to the normal con- ditions of weather the coming winter, we may reasonably expect that they will again be reduced to their usual, not particularly destructive, numbers. Natural enemies.—The absence of insect-eating birds- within the infested district was very noticeable. During the four days spent in that district not a single bird of any kind was observed to feed upon the grasshoppers. Barnyard fowls fed sparingly upon them, but whenever one of the red-legged species appeared upon the scene, the fowls at once ceased pursuing the larger ones and went in search of — the former. Turkeys were reported to feed greedily upon them, and when the latter did not appear in excessive numbers the turkeys succeeded in preventing them from injuring the corn-fields to any great extent. Ducks also fed upon them, and several cases were reported where ducks had died, apparently from having partaken too freely of them. The only insect observed feeding upon the grass hoppers was a large black beetle, Harpalus caliginosus Fab., which was caught in the act of feeding upon a half-grown specimen. ‘These beetles were quite numerous in the infested district, and doubtless destroy large numbers of the unfledged individuals. A medium-sized black wasp, Priononyx atrata St. Farg., which was also rather common, confined its attention solely to the red-legged species, which she would render helpless with her sting, then get astride of it, siezeit by the antenne and drag it to her nest in the ground. It was somewhat curious that, although other kinds of grasshoppers were present, this wasp always selected a red-legged specimen for her victim. This same kind of wasp also occurs in California, and there it also confines its attacks to one kind of grasshopper, the Melanoplus devastator Scud., which is very similar, both in size and color, to the red-legged species. Remedies employed.—A short time after the wheat had been cut, the young grasshoppers which had hatched out in these fields began to migrate into the adjacent fields of corn, where their presence was soon made manifest by the large holes which they gnawed in the corn leaves. When this was first observed many of the farmers spread dry straw along the side of the infested corn-fields and drove the grasshoppers upon it, then set fire to the straw; in this way many thousands of the young were destroyed, and in cases where they did not occur in too great numbers the corn-fields were protected by an occasional repetition of this method. In the worst infested districts, however, this means was found to be wholly inadequate, owing not only to the excessive numbers of the grasshoppers but also to the fact that their coming was 229 prolonged over such a long period of time, making it necessary to repeat the burning operation almost every day for a period of several weeks. | The expense of such repeated burnings would in most cases amount to more than the corn crop was worth. At my suggestion Mr. W. P. Moomaw made a test of the mixture of bran, arsenic, and sugar, which had been used in California with such success against various kinds of grasshoppers, but which had not, to my knowledge, ever been tried against the present species. It consists of six parts by weight of bran, to one each of arsenic and sugar. The bran is placed in a barrel or other convenient receptacle and the arsenic added and thoroughly stirred through the bran; the sugar is next dissolved in cold water and added to the mixture and the whole thoroughly stirred; water is then added until the mixture is wetin every part, after which it is taken to the field and distributed in heaps containing a tablespoonful each, or it may be sown broadcast, care being taken not to put it out where any livestock or barnyard fowls have access to it. In the present instance it was placed in clover and corn-fields and in an apple orchard, where both the winged and wingless grasshoppers were present in large numbers. It was distrib- uted rather early in the morning, and shortly after it was placed upon the ground numbers of the grasshoppers were attracted to and greed- ily fed upon it. Not only were the wingless ones attracted, but the winged ones as well, and these were observed coming from a distance of several feet direct to the mixture, as if attracted to it by the sense of smell. The arsenic is very slow in its effect. A wingless individual lived for about eight hours after having partaken of the mixture, while a winged one lived several hours longer than this. It will thus hap- pen that only a comparatively small proportion of those killed by the mixture will be found in its immediate neighborhood. Even the wing- less ones will sometimes manage to travel a distance of seventy-five or eighty feet before being overcome by the poison. The favorite resting place of the grasshoppers was in or beneath the tall weeds, and under one of these sometimes as many as thirty dead ones could be counted the day after the mixture was distributed. The best time for using this mixture would have been shortly after the wheat was harvested. By placing the mixture along the sides of the wheat-fields adjoining the growing crops, the grasshoppers, in migrating to the latter, would have found and been destroyed by the poisoned mixture. The latter is comparatively inexpensive, and after it has once been distributed in the fields requires no further attention, as it will retain its poisonous quality and still be attractive to the grasshoppers several weeks after being put out. 8359—No. 3——2 230 CHINCH BUG OBSERVATIONS IN IOWA IN 1894. By HERBERT OSBORN, Ames, Iowa. Acting under a commission from the Department of Agriculture received from Mr. Howard late in June, I took an extended trip through the State, making careful observations in all localities in which the chinch bug had appeared. I have submitted a full report, giving my field notes in detail. The following matter is extracted from the clos- ing pages of the report: To sum up the results of these investigations in as compact form as possible it may be said that the crop first attacked this season was in about 45 per cent of the cases wheat, in about 30 per cent barley, about 18 per centrye, about 20 per cent oats, and 2 per cent corn. The attacks in oats were in most cases where oats had been grown on corn land or were adjacent to shelter for the bugs and where no other grain crop was present, and also it would seem in most cases where oats were planted early so that the bugs were able to commence work in the fields as early as they would have in other grain crops. With regard to the crop which had been on the ground a year before, it was, in the majority of cases, corn where the preceding crop could be determined, about 55 per cent corn, about 35 per cent oats, about 7 per cent wheat, and about 2 per cent rye. This would indicate that if there is any importance to be placed upon the sequence of crops that the bugs are more likely to infest fields which have been previously in corn stalks. It seems prob- able, however, that this sequence is simply a result of the ordinary sequence of farm crops, wheat very commonly following corn. It would seem by the records in some cases that there was a strong probability that bugs hibernate in corn stalks, and it would seem wise to consider these a probable source of danger. In regard to the method of hiber- nation the record shows that practically in every instance there was some kind of shelter within a very short distance of the infested fields, and the evidence all points toward the movement of the bugs directly from such shelter into adjacent fields, and in many cases without even necessitating the taking to flight. In a great majority of cases, 90 per cent or more, the fields were directly adjacent to hedges or thickets or timber belts, and in 75 per cent Osage orange hedges were the most available shelter. In about 13 per cent of the cases the evidence showed hibernation in grass or weeds, and in some of these cases there could scarcely bea doubt that the hibernating bugs were protected ina heavy growth of grass or weeds, and that they moved from these directly into the adjacent grain fields. These observations, while of course simply duplicating what has been recognized before, seem to show very forci- bly the importance of destroying the rubbish alongside of the fields, where chinch bugs-have been present, as a means of protection for the following season. If new in any respect it isin that they indicate so 231 clearly the hibernation of bugs directly adjacent to the fields they infest later. The fact that certain fields almost identical in conditions where | stubble, corn stalks, and other rubbish were burned, were very free from bugs, while others not burned were badly infested this season, is strong confirmation of this view. In about 90 per cent of the infested fields examined the ground was high and in all cases had been extremely dry during the preceding fall and spring. In about 80 per cent the fields were hilly and ridged, and in most cases the damage was first apparent upon the higher portions of the fields, the exceptions to this rule being in the case of fields which had evidently become infested from bugs hibernating in slough grass or weeds occurring in lower places, and it must be noted here that even these places were comparatively dry during the twelve months preceding the damage of the present season. The character of the soil does not seem to have been of so much importance in deter- mining the distribution, as we find a nearly equal distribution of cases between black loam, clay loam, and sandy soils; but on the whole the soils most infested were rather light and friable soils, even the clay soils, where abundant, being of a rather light and in some cases sandy character. As to the distribution in the State with reference to crop distribution, the counties most infested are those in which there has been a pretty continuous growth of small grains—wheat, rye, and barley—but, as will be seen by comparing the chinch-bug distribution with crops by the annexed tables, the distribution, instead of being for those counties where spring wheat was the special crop, are those in which fall wheat or rye constitutes the special grain crops. | The infested area runs across various geological formations from Silu- rian to Carboniferous, and clearly bears no reference to soils in this regard; but from the fact that this area is in large part covered with glacial deposit the geological horizon is of little consequence. It may be noted that the principal centers of injury are the divides and bluffy sections adjacent to the river valleys of the Des Moines, Skunk, lowa, Cedar, and Wapsipinicon rivers and also along the Mis. SiSSIppl. It will be noticed that practically all the damage occurring in the southeast quarter of the State and reference to the table of crop sta- tistics will show that the counties Decatur, Wayne, Appanoose, Monroe, Mahaska, Keokuk, Jefferson, Henry, Des Moines, Van Buren, Lee, Louisa, and Muscatine are the most important fall-wheat districts, while for spring wheat and barley the northwest counties of the State, especially Kossuth, Emmet, Dickinson, Osceola, Lyon, Sioux, O’Brien, Clay, Palo Alto, Plymouth, Cherokee, Buena Vista, and some others are the important spring- wheat districts, and in none of these were chinch bugs presentin sufficient numbers so that they were reported. It would seem, therefore, that the popular idea that chinch bugs affect spring wheat rather than fall wheat is due to the fact that their injuries are 232 : more apparent because of the earlier ripening of the fall wheat and in reality the growing of fall wheat has a greater tendency to favor their increase. Finally, the most important factors in the chinch-bug outbreak this season seems to have been the extended dry period of preceding autumn and spring, shown by precipitation charts, the cultivation of fall wheat, rye, and in some cases barley, and the abundant Osage-orange hedges as convenient places of hibernation. It seems safe to conclude that for Lowa, with the present system of agriculture, chinch-bug outbreaks over the State at large are not likely to be of very frequent occurrence, but that in sections where wheat, rye, and barley are grown extensively and for a series of years in succession chinch-bug outbreaks must be expected and prepared for. Tam satisfied that the chinch bug can be controlled, but that farmers should not depend upon any one method of treatment, and especially not upon any that is to be adopted only where serious damage is actu- ally occurring, though even then prompt and igotousig measures may Save a large ane of ye crops. THE HIBERNATION OF THE CHINCH BUG. By -C. LL. MAREATT. In nearly every account of the chinch bug which I have seen, stress has been placed on the hibernation of the adult in rubbish of any sort, such as the thick matted grass of headlands and unmown places, piles of corn fodder, hay piles, or about haystacks, dried leaves under trees, particularly in hedgerows, or in any other like situation. In the course of very careful and extended investigations carried on in Kansas dur- ing a year of excessive chinch-bug abundance I failed entirely to find any basis for the above supposition. Repeated careful search through- out the late fall and winter failed to discover a single living chinch bug in ary such situations, even when such supposedly favorable hibernating conditions occurred in and adjoining fields which were alive with chinch bugs late in the fall. The only writer who seems to have thrown any doubt on the commonly accepted ideas as to hibernation is Prof. Forbes, who, in his First Report as State Entomologist of Illinois for the year 1882 (p. 37), refers to the fact that although he made very careful search for hibernating adults in September, October, and November of that year, he failed, as I did, to find them in any of the situations which they were supposed to frequent. He mentions examining matted grass in fields, rubbish in corn fields, leaves under hedgerows, etc., without discovering a single specimen in these situations, although, as he states, they afforded every temptation to hibernating insects, and many other species occurred abundantly. Where the actual hibernation takes place Prof. Forbes says he was unable to determine. 233 Failing to find them in the situations noted, I carried the examina- tion further, and finally discovered what is probably the normal hiber- nating place of the chinch bug in the dense stools of certain of the wild grasses, such as the blue stem and other sorts, perhaps including tame varieties, which incline to the stooling habit. Toward the lastof September the chinch bug begins its autumnal flight, and very shortly thereafter disappears entirely from the cornfields. In this flight it frequently goes some distance from the fields which it has infested, and, finding in these grass stools favorable situations, works its way well down into the stool, aimost or quite below the general surface of the ground. In these situations only were chinch bugs found during the winter, and so numerously, that a single stool of grass would con- ceal hundreds of theinsects. By tearing the grass apart the hibernat- ing bugs would be found massed between the stalks, well down into the earth, as thickly as they could force themselves into the crevices. The matted grass between the stools, which furnished considerable pro- tection, did not harbor a single chinch bug. So marked is this hiber- nating habit, that it is reasonable to infer that it is the normal and ancient one of the species, the natural food-plant of which, before the advent of settlement and the growth of the cereals, must have been some of our native grasses. Under date of October 8, 1885, Dr. Lintner gives an account of the chinch bug in the Albany Argus (republished in the Country Gentle- man of October 18), recording some personal observations in which he seems to have come very close to the true facts, without, however, recog- nizing their importance, and ignoring them altogether in the general account of the insect in his second report, published some time after. Dr. Lintner says that in a field of timothy badly infested with the insect he found them October 5, 6, 1883, collecting in dense masses a few inches in diameter on the ground and on the sunny side of fur- rows running about like ants and elsewhere ‘‘concealed among the roots near to and about the bulbs, on which they seemed mainly to feed.” The insects may here have been just beginning to enter the timothy stools for hibernation, although the denser stools of the wild grasses, where available, would probably be selected in preference. In spite of my utter failure to find them in the winter quarters ordi- narily designated and the similar experience recorded by Prof. Forbes, the reports of actual observations by others cannot be ignored, and it 1s probable that where grass stools are insufficient or wanting the clinch bug can and does hibernate more or less successfully in some of the other situations cited, but I am convinced that this is never done except of necessity. This peculiarity of hibernation has an important bearing on one of the common recommendations as to remedies, namely, the burning or clearing up of all loose rubbish about farms, particularly the matted grass in fence corners and on headlands and leaves in hedgerows: 234 Recommendations have even gone so far as to suggest the removal of hedges to prevent chinch bugs using these as favorable locations for hibernation. Al] such measures seem to be of comparatively little value under the circumstances. Knowing that the chinch bug nor- mally selects grass stools for its winter retreat, the burning over of such grass land would immediately suggest itself as an effective means of destroying the insect, and in a measure such action is advisable. To be at all successful, however, the burning should be done after a prolonged dry spell, so that the heat will penetrate well into the stools, otherwise many of the insects will escape because of being so deeply buried between the stalks and partly protected by earth and moisture. The burning should preferably be done during midwinter and after a succession of warm days, which might result in the emergence of the bugs: from their deeper recesses under the influence of light and warmth. Early burning—that is, in December or January—is advisable, to longer subject the bugs escaping the action of the fire to the destruc- tive agency of the winter storms, which should have good effect in the absence of the very great protection normally afforded by the grass. The life-cycle of this insect for central Kansas may be summarized as follows: April 10-20, spring flight from hibernating quarters in grass stools to wheatfields. April 20-30, in coitu about the roots of wheat. May 1-31, deposition of eggs on wheat roots beneath surface of the soil, with young hatching from May 15 to June 15. July 1-15, maturing of the first brood, followed immediately by the midsummer flight, if a migration of immature and adult forms has not been previously occasioned by the harvesting of grain or the local fail. ure of the food supply. July 15-30, union of the sexes and deposition of eggs in the soil about late corn or millet, the young of this brood appearing in maximum numbers about August 5. August 20-September 10, maturing of the second brood and partial flight of same to late corn or other green crops if in fields of corn already mature and dying. September 15 to October 15, autumnal flight to grass lands and con- cealment in stools for hibernation. | : 235 THE MAPLE PSEUDOCOCCUS. ( Pseudococcus aceris Geoff. ) By L. O. HOWARD. Fic. 23.—Pseudococeu: aceris: a, adult females on leaf; b, young female and males on bark—natural size (original). There exists in parts of the United States a scale upon maple which is identical with a European species, and which may have been imported into this country. It bears a superficial resemblance to the common cottony maple scale (Pulvinaria innumerabilis Rathy.), and is likely to be mistaken for the latter species at a hurried glance. The latter insect, however, is very common, while the species under con- sideration is rare, or at least has been rare until recently. But one account of the insect in the United States has been published, and this is Miss Emily A. Smith’s “ Biological and other notes on Pseudo- coccus aceris,” published in the North American Entomologist for April, 1880. This journal had but a brief existence and comparatively few copies were published, so that this sole aecount is practically 236 inaccessible. Miss Smith’s observations were tolerably complete. She knew the egg, the young larva, the male pupa, the adult male, and the adult female. She also reared an interesting parasite, and followed the development of the Pseudococcus throughout the year. Her observa- .— tions were made in Peoria, [ll.,and she found the insect in only two localities in that city and upon the hard or sugar maple alone, whereas in Europe it is a very common species, and occurs also upon the elm, linden, and chestnut. Since the publication of Miss Smith’s article,and the receipt from her of specimens of this insect as well as its parasite, the species has never been received at this office, although many hundreds of send- ings of Coccide of many forms and from very many parts of the country have come in. This fact alone fixes the rarity of the species. It is possible that it has been more abundant than this fact would indicate, and that it has been mistaken by casual observers for the ecottony maple scale. This, however, is hardly likely, since the latter insect is one of the species.:most commonly received at the office. As has happened so many times with other comparatively rare insects, the maple Pseudocoecus has suddenly become a species of more or less importance, and during the present season, after a lapse of fourteen years, we have received it from four different localities, each time with reports of abundance. The first receipt was from Mr. John G. Jack, of the Arnold Arbore- tum, who writes me that the species is very abundant in some loeali- ties in the vicinity of Jamaica Plain, Mass. (five miles southwest of Boston), and in some parts of Brookline, particularly on some fine old sugar maples on the estate of Prof. C.S. Sargent. Specimens were sent by Mr. Jack, under date of July 21, and consisted of full-grown females bearing eggs, upon maple leaves. The second receipt was through the American Florist, at Chicago, from Rea Bros., of Norwood Nurseries, Norwood, Mass. Norwood is fifteen miles southwest from Boston. Rea Bros. sent specimens upon the bark of maple, and wrote that the maple from which the bark was taken had the main trunk and many branches covered with the insect, and that it was spreading to other maple trees near by. The third receipt was from Prof. W. G. Johnson, of the State Laboratory of National History, at Champaign, Iil., who, under date of August 29, sent specimens and wrote that he had received them on the leaf of a sugar maple from Mount Carmel, Ill. Mount Carmel is 175 miles southeast of Peoria, the locality in which Miss Smith originally studied the species. The fourth receipt was from Prof. L. F. Kinney, Horticulturist and Acting Botanist of the Rhode Island Experiment Station at Kingston, R. I. He sends specimens of the females on maple leaves under date of September 17, stating that his attention had been called to them several times during the present season, and that he had supposed them to be identical with the ordinary cottony maple scale. It is quite within the bounds of 237 probability that the insect is much more widely distributed than the records indicate, and that it has not been more often recorded on | account of its strong resemblance to the cottcny maple scale. Almost any observer, no matter how familiar he might be with scale-insects, would mistake the species without careful examination. It must be stated further that in her paper, Miss Smith wrote that she had learned through J. D. Putnam, of Davenport, lowa, that Dr.S.S. Rathvon, of Lancaster, Pa., had found the species upon hard maple in that city. An egg-mass was furnished to Miss Smith, and she judged it to be the. same. This record, however, is not a positive one as Miss Smith does not seem to have seen the insect itself. In view of this apparent increase of the species, it will be well to review in brief its life history, especially as Miss Smith’s paper is diffi- cult to consult. The different stages of the insect have been carefully figured, and will give a better idea of its appearance than any descrip- tion. SSS \ Ms 2 ~ ——— ge ee a ae ae & Fie. 24.—Pseudococcus aceris: a, adult female; b, antenna of same; c, adult male; d, young larva; e, antenna of same—a, ce, d, greatly enlarged; b, e, still more enlarged (original). The insect, as it occurs upon the leaves in summer, appears as an oval mass of powdery, slightly stringy, white wax about a quarter of an inch long and alittleless in width (Fig. 23 a). This masscontains the body of the adult female and her eggs. The female herself occupies the anterior end of the mass and her body constitutes about one-fourth of its bulk (ig. 24a). She is light yellow in color, about 5™™ long by 3"™ in diameter; the upper surface of the body is covered with numerous spinnerets, which are more dense at the posterior extremity, and inter- spersed with short spines which are somewhat longer at the posterior end. The antenn are 9-jointed (Fig. 24 b), joint 9 longest, joints 3-5 238 sub-equal and each somewhat shorter than 9. Joints 6-8 are also sub- equal in length, any two of them together being a little longer than | joint 9. The tarsi are rather more than one-third the length of the tibizw and the claws are unidentate at apex. The digitules are appa- reitly capitate; the ano-genital ring is punctate and bears six long hairs. The eggs, which are found very numerously in the waxy secretion, are from 0.3 to 0.4™" long and about half as wide; they are light yel- low in color. It may be stated here that there is something radically wrong about all of Miss Smith’s measurements, the cause of which can not.be satisfactorily guessed at. The egg, for instance, she says is from 5 to 6™ long and from 3 to 4™™ wide. Even on the supposition that she meant tenths of millimeters instead of millimeters, her meas- urements would still be too large. The female larva is pale yellow, elongate oval, tapering gently toward each end. The antenne are 6-jointed, joint 6 about as long as the three preceding ones combined, joint 2 somewat longer than any of the following three, each of which gradually shortens from 2 to 4. The eyes are dark purplish. The head in front of the antennz bears four slender hairs. There is one short spine just in front of each eye, three similar spines each side of the prothorax, and one on each side of all the remaining segments. Theanal lobes bear two or three short hairs or spines and one long bristle. 3 The male larva is reddish yellow in color. The adult male is also red, and is shown in detail at Fig. 24 c. When the eggs hatch, the young larve remain upon the leaf, unless this should be too crowded, when they crawl down the petiole and seek food from some healthier leaf. The male larve, on reaching full growth, become restless and wander about over the trunks and limbs of the trees for from seven to ten days (Fig. 23 b), and finally secrete them- selves beneath the roughened outside bark of the tree and transform to pupa. In about fifteen days the perfect male issues from one end of the waxy cocoon. By this time the females have become mature, have left the leaves and wander about the limbs or trunk. Here they are sought by the males. The growth of the female thereafter is rapid, and she soon settles upon the underside of the leaf. In this stage the females seldom crowd the leaf, and Miss Smith states that not more than three or four remain upon a single leaf. In the specimens sent us by Mr. Jack, however, we have counted as many as thirteen on the under side of a single leaf. The waxy secretion soon becomes very dense, and the eggs are pushed out into it, both secretion and number of eggs increasing proportionately, and the number of eggs ranging from 500 upward. The body of the female gradually shrivels. Miss Smith found that there are three generations each year. Through the winter months the larve are to be found in the crevices of the bark, on the trunk, and at the base of the larger limbs. During the warm days of winter they crawl out and are quite active. They make al 239 a lining in the crevices of the waxy secretion, and remain there the greater part of the time from October until May. They also convert the empty cocoons of Chrysopa into places of resort and concealment. The second brood is hatched in June and the third in August, and it is from mature females of the third brood that the young issue which winter over. Itis worthy of note that the young of each generation possess the habit of migrating to the trunk of the tree. In the early generations, however, this is only for a short period, while the young of the last generation, as just stated, pass the winter on the trunk. A short time before the males enter the pupa state both sexes wander up and down the trunk and Jarger branches for a few days; the males make their cocoons, and the females repair to the leaves, where they become stationary. Natural enemies.—Miss Smith found that the female is frequently parasitised about the time of oviposition by a minute chalcidid, for which she erected the new genus Acerophagus and the new species coccois. As pointed out by the writer in the Annual Report of the Department of Agriculture for 1880, p. 361, this species belongs to Foerster’s genus Rhopus, and the species is redesecribed and refigured at that place and upon Plate xxtvy, at Figure 2. The only European species of this genus Rhopus (RP. testaceus) is a parasite of Lecanium racemosus Ratz. This insect was the smallest encyrtine known up to the time when Miss Smith bred R. coccois. The European species is 0.6™™ long, while FR. coccois is 0.55™™" in length. It is interesting to note that the only other Rhopus which has since been reared was bred by Mr. Coquillett from his Pseudocoecus yucce from California. Miss Smith also found a Syrphus larva feeding upon the young bark-lice, while from the puparium of this larva she reared a chalcidid which she stated to be a species of Eulophus. Three ladybirds (Hyper- aspis signata, Chilocorus bivulnerus, and A Ly hy aS Fe ® ve Fic. 26.—Work of Agrilus sinvatus in bark of pear; abont one-sixth natural size. (After Smith.) these succumb at last. The excellent illustration of the work of this destructive larva, which we present (Fig. 26), has been loaned us by Dr. Smith, and is reproduced from a photograph of a Seckel pear tree at the point of branching, the bark being removed from the trunk and one of the branches to show the galleries. This tree, he says, was 260 between five and six inches in diameter, and had been healthy and a prolific bearer until the insects attacked it. The branches are attacked as well as the trunk, and sometimes the tree dies from the top. Young trees just from the nursery become infested. Dr. Smith records one case in which a small tree was set out one fall, became infested the following summer, and was dead the next spring. The burrows are extremely long, and one of them which was measured exceeded eight feet. The beetle is known to occur throughout middle and southern Europe, and was originally described in 1790 by Olivier, who found his specimens on various kinds of fruit trees in southern France. Of late years, since 1890, it has attracted considerable attention in Germany, and has been ably written about by Mr. R. Goethe, Director of the Royal Horticultural Academy at Geisenheim.* He calls the insect “one of the most dangerous enemies to fruit trees,” and expresses aston- ishment that it is not even mentioned in treatises on injurious insects, In Western Germany the adult beetles appear in June and July and deposit their eggs in the cracks or beneath the scales of the bark of the trees, apparently preferring the younger trees. The young larva eats its way through the bark and constructs there the strongly undulating galleries so characteristic of all tree-inhabiting larve of the genus Agrilus. After two years the larva has attained full growth, and assumes the pupa state in an elongate cavity constructed a little deeper in the solid wood. As ameans of protecting trees against this Agrilus, Mr. Goethe ree- ommends the coating of the trunks with a thick layer of clay. Healso found that’ a mixture of clay and cow’s manure applied to the trunk and older branches of infested trees not only kills the larva in their galleries, but assists the trees materially in their recuperative efforts. Dr. Smith finds that the insect was imported from Europe into a nursery in Union County, N. J., not more than ten years ago, and that it is already quite widespread in that State, probably also occurring in New York. SCORPIONS, CENTIPEDES, AND TARANTULAS. There has always been the greatest conflict of evidence among tray- elers in tropical regions as to the effect of the bite of the three classes of animals referred to in the above heading. The frequent introduc- tion of all three into the larger cities of the United States in bunches of bananas and other tropical fruits brings the subject more or less prominently before our public. ; *The article is published in the Report of the Academy for 1890-’91 (1892), and reprinted in Entomolog. Nachrichten, 19, 1893, pp. 25-30. See also article by Puton, “T/Agrilus sinuatus destructeur des poiriers” (Revue d’Entomologie, 2, 1883, pp. 67-69), and Xambeu’s ‘‘Moeurs et Metamorphoses d’Insectes” (1. ¢., 12, 1893, pp. 91-93). 261 Sifting the published evidence, Prof. Riley, in his article on “ Poi- sonous Insects,” in Wood’s Reference Handbook of the Medical Sciences (vol. v, 1887), makes the following statements, after some little discus- sion of the characters and habits of the creatures considered: + * Scorpions.— They are dangerous in proportion to their size, their age, and the state of irritation they may bein. Temperature also influences the venom. The wounds inflicted even by the largest species rarely prove fatal. ~ ~*~ * There is no doubt that the sting of certain kinds common in South America causes fever, numbness in various parts of the body, tumors on the tongue, and dimness of sight, which symptoms last from twenty-four to forty-eight hours. *~ ~*~ ~*~ The effectof the sting upon a person diminishes in virulence with repetition, and may become innocuous. 3 Centipedes.— * * * The effect of the bite of a centipede in warm climates is very variable; sometimes excessively virulent and painful, at others causing little inconvenience. Tarantulas.—This popular term refers only to the large, hairy Theraphosids. * * * The bite of these spiders is quite painful, but not by any means as danger- ous as claimed. It produces a violent inflamination of short duration. Scars made by such bites are quite lasting, however, looking like those so frequently made during dissections. Recent correspondence with Mr. Herbert H. Smith, the well-known collector in South and Central America and the West Indies, and with Dr. Eugene Murray-Aaron, who has collected throughout the West Indies, has given us some facts which should be placed upon record, and which, while they negative popular ideas, substantiate the con- clusions arrived at by Prof. Riley, as above stated. Mr. Smith writes as follows: Scorpion stings are nearly always very painful; commonly there is great inflam- mation and swelling around the wound for two or three days, and occasionally this may extend so faras to be dangerous. My wife’s uncle, a physician in Yucatan, was stung on one of the toes by ascorpion which had got into his shoe; the foot and leg inflamed so badly that he himself had nearly decided on amputation of the foot; he believed it would be necessary in order to save hislife. However, the inflam- mation finally subsided and he got well. I do not know what remedies heused. yf have heard, from Brazilian physicians, of similar cases, but I do not know of any case of death from a scorpion sting. Probably death might result in some cases, as (if reports are true) it does, rarely, from bee stings. I have never been stung by a scorpion. My wife was stung by a small one in the West Indies; the wound was on the end of the forefinger and was exceedingly painful. By the advice of a ser- vant, she held the finger for an hour in hot sweet oil mixed with an equal measure of laudanum. There was no swelling, and three hours after all pain had left her. This remedy is a popular one in the West Jndies, and the result seems to show that it is good. Once when I was traveling with Mr. O. A. Derby, he was stung on the hand by ascorpion. The swelling lasted for three days, making the hand use- less and extending nearly to the elbow. He described the pain at first as terrible; he is a brave fellow, but I could see by his drawn face that he was suffering severely. Some scorpions are much worse than others. The rather small, slender, pale-colored kinds have the worst reputation, and country people in Brazil say that the sting of the very large black kinds is not particularly painful. By the way, why are certain places nearly free from scorpions, while others are overrun by them? The worst metropolis of them that I ever saw was a valley in the Tierra Templada of Mexico, a beautiful place, well watered, surrounded by forests, and 8359—No. 3———4 262 apparently not very different from other places where scorpions were rare. Here I could not turn over a stone without finding three cr four under it—a small, pale species, said to be very wicked. About centipedes I can give you no reliable information. I never heard even a report of their being dangerous, though the bite is said to be painful. Some say that the legs are poisonous and that if the animal runs over the skin it leaves a trail like fire. This, I take it, is all imagination. I have had very small centipedes run over me, and they did not harm me at all. Inever saw a centipede wound, and, according to my experience, the animals are so timid that they will not try to bite unless squeezed by a stick or forceps. Of course nobody would attempt to catch a large one with the hand, but a bare foot might tread on one. Spiders, on the contrary, are very pugnacious. Species an inch long, if threatened with a stick, will sometimes leap several inches at it. In one such case I was bitten on the finger. The pain was no greater than that produced by the sting of a small wasp, and there was hardly any swelling. In the American tropics ‘ tarantulas” are any large spiders, but especially the large hairy Mygales. Ido not think that these are dangerous, except, possibly, to a few persons. The only case of a Mygale bite which has come under my observation was that of a man who was bitten on the foot deep enough to draw a little blood. There was hardly any swelling and he paid no attention to it. The story of Mygales killing small birds 1s true, but I do not think that the birds are their regular prey. They eat roaches, large moths, etc., and sometimes grasshoppers. Dr. Aaron writes as follows: * * * Tam convinced that no healthy adult need have serious alarm from the bite or sting of these creatures, although, as I have more than once found out to my cost, their poisons are the cause of much and excruciating pain. Leprosy, yaws, the malignant forms of syphilis, are all very common among negroes, mestizos, and half-breeds in the American tropics, and it is among such sub- jects that the poisonous insects and minor poisonous reptiles find their victims of serious poisoning and death. But a man in good health, with pure blood and of good habits, will in every case (in my opinion) throw off their effects in from one to five days. My most serious personal experience was with a large “ trap-door spider” (Mygale? sp.) in Haiti. The creature was lurking in the dried sheathes of a bam- boo clump that I was cutting down for building purposes and it bit me twice on the back of the hand before I saw him (or rather her). From this bite, on which I used the usual remedies, I suffered more or less for four days and experienced slight pains for nearly amonth. From the third to the thirtieth hours my hand and forearm were terribly swollen and discolored, and during part of the time, at irregular inter- vals, every pulsation was accompanied by pains akin to the worst earache. These involved the whole arm and the shoulder. A severe headache was also a natural feature. Fear had no part in this case, as I had been bitten before by a larger speci- men at Port a Paix, Haiti. Why the effect was so severe I can not say. While keeping house at Half Way Tree, Jamaica, I was severely stung at the base of the left thumb by a large female scorpion that had taken shelter in some letters that I was examining. It was an odd coincidence that I was just beginning an article for a New York syndicate on ‘‘ Insect Poisons,” and was looking for a letter from your predecessor, Prof. Riley, on the ‘‘red tick,” ‘‘ grass louse,” béte rouge (Ixodes sp.?), whenstung. The pain and the inflammation were much less than from the Mygale. I have been stung by scorpions several times while hunting in rotten timber and decaying vegetation for beetles, etc. Usually the effect is no worse than that from the sting of the “ locust-killer” (Stizus speciosus). Bad enough, you will say, if you have ever had a tilt with that formidable hymenopter. Centipedes have a fondness for vermin-infested beds, and the latter are as common in Tropical America as the hairs on a dog’s back. So it has come that twice I have rolled over on fair-sized specimens of Julus (?). I am by no means sure of the 263 manner of their poison infliction, but know that a red ridge, burning much as does the excoriation of the common nettle, is the result. The pain is less than that from the others, but the incident fever and distress of the head is greater than that of the scorpion, though less than that of Mygale. Much has been written of the ‘“‘ dance of the tarantula,” and wonderful are the tales the traveler may heardown there. In the Haiti case (bamboo cutting), already spoken of, I undoubtedly felt the symptoms that give rise to these stories. For per- haps a half hour, about four hours after the bite, I was afflicted with an utterly irre- sistible twitching of the muscles of the legs and arms, and the spasmodic action of the fingers, eyelids, lips, and tongue were most distressing. Only the utmost exer- tion of my self-control kept me from making more of an exhibition of myself than I did. Asit was, my negro guide and carriers stood sympathetically around and com- pared notes in their French-patois jargon as to the probable hour of my demise. My entire recovery and subsequent apparent fearlessness regarding all poisonous things greatly increased their opinion of the Vaudoux powers with which they had already invested me. GENERAL NOTES. GRAIN INSECTS IN MILLS. An article on the destruction of grain insects in mills, published in the American Miller for October 1, 1894, strikes us as so thoroughly practical that it is well worth republishing nearly in full. The article is by Mr. R. E. Hutton, who is evidently a man of wide experience. After reciting the trouble experienced in his mill from the presence of grain insects, Mr. Hutton says: This was about the predicament in our mill, and we began to arrange a siege. The accompanying sketch shows a pair of small, round reels to tail over into a pair aon RING TO PULL OUT ' BUG SUR PRISER |) —