SOOO tnGatind- Roh Yate Hehe Nadine atin tame) Cae ~ -f Wu ie ae } ae ae hay a) lide ea: | ce) aad ine . rT Maia i Ree - Lm. 14 7 De nD Paes ace tah Me aly | i nt | c lee gy a | | ‘ Bae Be te a ee Nien vf 4 3) ' f ae we ui a pi ‘esl , / i 1 " uy 5 Vy { i @ EB at a vd i i 7 eo. OPPART MENT OF AGRICULTURE. DIVISION OF ENTOMOLOGY. PERIODICAL BULLETIN. October, 1891. to August, 1892. INSECT LIFE. Wohin owe DEVOTED TO THE ECONOMY AND LIFE-HABITS OF INSECTS, MSPECIALLY IN THEIR RELATIONS TO AGRICULTURE, EDITED BY GOV. RILEY, Entomologist, AND L. O. HOWARD, First Assistant, WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF OTHER MEMBERS OF THE DIVISIONAL FORCE. [PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE. | WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 13.9.2. so 13 bn StityyS os Mion H. S. BARBER COLLECTION Orv. INS ° U.S. NATL? BUSS / ss S. National WA TABLE OF CONTENTS. CONTENTS OF NOS. 1 AND 2. Page. BUSTA Tet ONDD Sree Be ees aS k Urata ieio'a chic) sisic acts ois oc Simarainjau Sa OSS eee See 1 THIRD ANNUAL MEETING, ASSOCIATION ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGISTS...--..-... 4 ERESIDENIES, INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 2-.cc as three eggs may be found ata single point, and five leaf axils may be infested on a single stalk. The young larva bures upward in a cork- screw channel in the sap wood, as much in the bark as in the wood, until early August. Some are at that period only one-fourth of an inch long and almost nothing in diameter, while others are half an inch in length and reasonably stout. Sometimes a larva will make only two or three long circles around the cane and then, while yet minute, will pierce the cane and get into the pith. Where this is done, no visible gall forms. Others, however, and usually those in large, stout canes, will circle the stalk half a dozen times or more in succession, the girdles | - not more than one-eighth of an inch apart. The first trace of a gall I found in early August, when a slight ridge appears over every larval gallery, so that the course of the borer is perfectly traceable on a smooth stem. As the cane grows the sawdust and excrement in the galleries seem to swell and enlarge and also to destroy the vitality of the tis- sues around it, until, instead of the girdlings becoming smaller, they really become more prominent, and the abnormal growth of tissue con- tinues. In some cases, as stated, no galls appear; but this is some- what exceptional. In raspberry I have not found the galls, while bor- ers have been found not rarely. This indicates that some of the exempt varieties of blackberries may simply form no galls. Iam the more inclined to believe this, because I have seen beetles in no small num- 29 bers in “exempt” fields. I believe, too, that killing the cane is due, not to the injury in the pith, but to the injury done under the bark. Be- yond this, the history of the insect is well known; but I am not aware that the gall formation has been as fully observed. Of course the rem- edy is obvious. Cutting the galls out thoroughly in early spring and burning the cuttings is certain. This is already practiced by our best fruit growers, and they are not much troubled. Unfortunately there are many who seem unable to understand their own interests, and will de- lay cutting or refuse to burn. Some fields, too, belong to men of other occupations, and as they become unprofitable, they allow them to go to ruin and to become breeding places for all sorts of pests, fungous and insect. Next in order, and indeed sometimes even worse, is the Jarva of a Sesiid, probably Bembecia marginata, Harr. The eggsof this insect,which Lhave not yet seen, are laid late in August orin September. The young larva hatches that same fall, and in the following spring is found in canes of the previous year’s growth, boring only a short distance up from the roots. It is then less than half an inch long and of a faint reddish tint, which it loses as the summer advances. In July it leaves the cane on which usually no fruit has set, and attacks a new shoot, eating around the base and burrowing up between bark and wood. The shoot wilts, but the larva seems not to travel more until the follow- ing spring. It is then an inch long, white in color, and with a brown head. It eats at the crown until the new shoots are large and vigorous, and early in July the wilting shoot in infested fields indicate the where- abouts of the larve. They pupate in August, one pupa newly formed being found on the 10th, and a number on the 23d, but at these dates ho imago was yet noticed. One pupa had wriggled out through the stem at the latter date, apparently ready to transform. The insect is unportant because it cuts two years’ growth of infested hills, The remedy is also mechanical. It consists in cutting the shoots as they wilt close tu the crown, and destroying the contained larva. Sometimes in June a hill will suddenly wilt and die as if burnt. Search will in all cases reveal an enormous longicorn larva, which I make out to be that of Prionus laticollis. In some old fields it is very mischievous, boring huge channels in the main root. Iam not aware that this has been heretofore noted as infesting blackberries, and simply record the habit. Another insect infesting growing canes escaped me during the pres- ent season because unexpected and unnoticed. In cutting some new shoots I found them marked, through the pith from base nearly to tip, a distance of three or four feet, by a larval channel. The new canes had been already topped a first time and I missed the culprit. Insome fields not yet topped I found that the borer had emerged or had been parasitized, fragments only remaining, which seemed to prove it Lepi- dopterous. No apparent damage was done by the insect and none of the bored stems died. 30 A little gall on young shoots, found very locally only, is formed by a | Cecidomyiid very near to Lasioptera farinosa, if not identical with it. The young shoots are always trimmed out before the imago emerges in | spring, and no damage isdone. The larva is also parasitized quite fre- quently, and only a few imagos were obtained. The relations of the parasites to each other is still somewhat obscure, and one of the species may be secondary. AFTERNOON SESSION. Meeting called to order at 4 p. m. by President Fletcher ; 29 persons were present. Mr. Smith read the following: THE SQUASH BORER, MELITTIA CUCURBITZ, AND REMEDIES THEREFOR. By Joun B. Smitu, New Brunswick, N. J. The most dangerous enemy to squash culture in New Jersey is un- doubtedly this borer. Its life history is already fairly well known, and the question of remedies is the vital one. Those usually reeommended have not proved eminently satisfactory in practice, and cutting out is still most generally relied upon. Summer squashes are badly infested, but have a large stout stem and usually mature a crop before the borers can kill the vine. Of the later varieties the Hubbard is the favorite, not only of the grower, but of the borer. The missing links in the life history seemed to be in the egg stage, and these were carefully observed by me during the present season. I found in every case one or more eggs at the base of the plant, as near to the root as possible, and usually on the underside of the stem, ¢. e., that portion of it resting on the ground. The moth evidently gets as near to the base of the plant as possible, and deposits her eggs as far towards the root as her ovipositor will extend. Rarely the egg will be found at the axil of the first or second leaf stalk ; but it is at such points that the insects rest at night. The egg itself is chestnut brown in color, in form a flattened disk and of quite large size. The shell is quite hard and chitinous, but brittle. It is not readily pervious to the kerosene emulsion diluted 12 times, but is readily crushed. This stage is quite a protracted one, lasting at least 12 and probably often 15 days. The young larva when it leaves the egg moves off less than an inch and immediately enters the stem. This habit accounts for the ill success of the arsenical mixtures applied to the stem. The difficulty of getting all around it is great in the first place, and the larva eats so little that it has at least an even chance for escape. The kerosene emulsion might be more satistactory but for the difficulty of getting the application on the under side of the stem. When the egg- laying habits were observed the experiment patch was examined, all the | spare vines pulled up so as to verify the universal presence of eggs, and 31 then with the fingers the base of the vines were rubbed thoroughly. This was intended to crush the eggs, and it was effective. The process was twice repeated, and two or three larvie only escaped. The other vines continued healthy and free to date. Where planting can be de- ferred to July the vines will be free from borers, and this is the plan adopted by some large growers. In small or garden patches, rubbing the stems of the vines near base will prove effective and is a simple and cheap remedy. Planting summer squashes as traps and destroying the vines before the insects mature would also be a good way to avoid injury. Mr. Riley asked whether Mr. Smith had tried the ordinary method of mounding the vines with ashes. Mr. Smith said that he had not, and that he thought that this prac- tice would simply oblige the moths to lay their eggs higher up the stalk. Mr. Alwood said that he had found all cucurbitaceous plants quite resistant against the injurious effects of kerosene, and inasmuch as he had been successful against Diabrotica with kerosene emulsion, he thought that this substance would be available against the borer. Mr. George F. Atkinson presented the following: NOTE ON A COTTON CUT-WORM. By G. F. ATKINSON, Auburn, Ala. [Secretary’s abstract. ] During the early part of July the author visited Greensboro, Ala., at the request of a cotton planter who complained that great damage was being done to the young cotton by worms. He found that an acre had been entirely stripped and had been plowed under and replanted. He found Noctuid larve at the roots of 20 or 30 of the plants, which he sub- sequently reared to the adult stage and proved to be Agrotis annexa. Experiments with Paris green seemed to show that this insect could be treated with this substance. He also found the larve feeding on Amarantus. NOTE ON A NEMATODE LEAF DISEASE. By G. F. ATKINSON, Auburn, Ala. [ Secretary’s abstract. ] This worm had been found by Dr. Byron D. Halstead affecting the leaves of Chrysanthemum and Coleus in New Jersey. It makes no swell- ing or deformity as do many other Anvguillulids, but causes a brown patch upon leaves. Mr. Atkinson has determined this as a species of the genus Aphelenchus. He entered into some details as to the distin guish- ing characteristics between Aphelenchus and Tylenchus, and showed that this species is somewhat aberrant in the genus in which he has placed it, 32 Mr. Smith asked whether the characters of the genitalia are constant, — Mr. Atkinson replied that they are within generic limits, but that they do not differ with species except as regards the distance from the anal end of the body to the genitalia. Mr. Atkinson further stated that he thinks that these Nematodes reach the leaves by being borne up in the axils of the leaves as the plants grow. Mr. Riley asked whether it was not possible that the young might work their way up the plants to the leaves during rain. Mr. Atkinson agreed as to the possibility of this method, and further stated that he had received what he supposed to be the Tylenchus tritici or scandens of Europe, from grass in Colorado. Mr. Riley read the following paper : KEROSENE EMULSION AND PYRETHRUM. | By C. V. RILEY, Washington, D. C. In the Rural New Yorker of June 20, 1891, Dr. Albert E. Menke, director of the Arkansas Experiment Station, criticises a review of Bul- letin No. 15 of his station, published in INsEcT Lire. The principal point raised by Dr. Menke is that kerosene extract of pyrethrum, made intoan emulsion with soap and water, is entirely different from an aque- ous extract of pyrethrum made into an emulsion with soap and kerosene, as recommended by Professor Gillette. He also disputes the statement that the idea of combining kerosene and pyrethrum was given him by Prof. Jerome McNeill.* Professor McNeill has experimented with both the Gillette and the Menke combinations, and in a recent communica- tion he confirms the statement that he first suggested the combination of these two substances to Dr. Menke and gives the results of his expe- rience as follows: In preparing, in accordance with your directions, Dr. Menke’s mixture, I used the proportions given in Bulletin No. 15 of the Arkansas Station. The extract of pyre- thrum was made by simply digesting the powder in kerosene for three or four hours. The resulting emulsion is good, and it is about as effective on the Cabbage Worm as he claimed it to be on the Cotton Worm. Mr. Gillette’s mixture I made with the same proportion of soap, kerosene, and pyrethrum as the first mixture contained. * * * The emulsion was made in the usual manner, and then it was diluted with the kerosene tea. When Dr. Menke’s mixture was diluted equally, there was no dif- ference between the two in appearance or odor. In using dilutions of the same strength fewer worms survived the application of Mr. Gillette’s solution, but the dif- ference wus immaterial, as, when I applied the mixture without knowing which I was using, i could not always tell which of the two I had employed. Such in brief are the conclusions I have reached after a considerable number of experiments with the two. Ishall not be satisfied, however, without further trial of these mixtures upon different worms. One thing that has disturbed my satisfaction with these ex- * An error was made in the proportions of veratrin given in INSECT LIFE, in that one-fourth pound was written instead of one-fourth ounce. Three lines above this error, however, the correct proportions are mentioned, which is sufficient evidence that the error was a clerical one, —s 33 periments is, that in many cases where I had applied a dilution of a given strength to larve of different age, the younger larve seemed less affected than the older. Concerning the difference between au aqueous extract of pyrethrum made into an emulsion with kerosene and soap, and a kerosene extract of pyrethrum made into an emulsion with soap and water, there is no practical difference. It may be of some slight interest to scientific people to know that the aqueous extract and the kerosene extract are technically different. As far as their use is concerned these two are absolutely one. If there is any practical difference between them, the aqueous extract emulsion is preferable. I have never made any public claim to having orig- inated the idea that kerosene would dissolve the insecticide principle of pyrethrum. What I wanted to announce the discovery of was, that the two insecticides, kero- sene and pyrethrum, could be combined in an emulsion which would be more effective than either. When I was assured by Mr. Mally (an agent of the Division) that he had made such a mixture while working with Mr. Gillette, my personal in- terest in the matter ceased. Dr. Menke claims to have discovered an ‘‘entirely new” insecticide which is remarkable for its cheapness. I think I have shown that it is composed of the same materials which may be used in the same proportions so that the difference between his emulsion and Mr. Gillette’s is in method of preparation, and in this respect his method is decidedly the inferior. The chief difficulty in the use of pyrethrum in kerosene emulsion is the cost when compared with the cost of the arsenites in the form of powder or in solution. * * * # P # * Mr. Smith had tried the kerosene-pyrethrum combination according to Menke’s formula, but had found it of no use against the Rose Chafer. In response to a question by Mr. Smith, Mr. Alwood stated that he buys imported powder for from 38 to 40 cents per pound at wholesale in New York. For buhach he has to pay 75 cents per pound and considers that one is as good as the other. He finds thathe can keep the powder in bulk for two or three years, with care. Mr. Webster stated that he could buy it by the 10 or 20 pounds in La Fayette, Ind., at 30 cents per pound. Mr. Alwood stated that in his opinion this powder must be adulter- ated on account of the cost of production in Dalmatia. Mr. Smith buys in Philadelphia for 25 cents per pound. Mr. Weed had found kerosene combined with pyrethrum perfectly useless against the Harlequin Cabbage Bug. Kerosene emulsion is also ineffective against the same insect. Mr. Alwood, however, had found it effective for this insect. Mr. Weed stated that he had killed the plants, but not the bugs. He has found the eggs of this insect to hatch in three days in Mississippi (first brood), those of the second brood hatching in two days, and those of the later brood in four days. These periods, however, are not are and conside: able variation occurs. Mr. Smith finds this species in southern New Jersey, but never upon cabbages. Mr. Doran stated that the bugs can be caught upon Mustard before the cabbagés are set out. Mr. Weed said that he had experimented in that direction and recom- mended the application of pure kerosene upon the first brood of bugs upon Mustard. 7911—No. 1——3 34 Mr. Bronk had traced an attack of this Cabbage Bug from Kale to Cab- bage, the Kale having been destroyed and but three plants accidentally left. : Mr. Osborn said that Mr. Gillette conducted his kerosene-pyrethrum experiments nearly a year before his results were pubiished, awaiting confirmative evidence. Mr. Riley said that the great efficacy claimed for these combinations of Mr. Menke and Mr. Gillette will not be borne out by further experi- ment. Against the Boll Worm his ageuts have not found them thorough antidotes. The Association then adjourned. AUGUST 18, MORNING SESSION. The Association was called to order by President Fletcher at 9:30 a.m. Thirty-four persons were present. The minutes of Monday meeting were read and approved. On motion, a nominating committee, consist- ing of Messrs. Howard, Weed, and Bruner, was appointed. Mr. Weed presented the following notes: WORK OF THE SEASON IN MISSISSIPPI. By H. E. WEED, Agricultural College, Mississippi. [Secretary’s abstract. ] There has been no one great outbreak the present season. Last year stock was injured by the Screw Worm quite extensively, but the planters are now treating with carbolic-acid washes and are lessening the dam- age. The Cotton Leaf-worm and the Boll Worm are the principal in- sect enemies of the State. The former is only just appearing and will not be destructive. The Boll Worm was injurious last fall owing to wet weather. d/geria pyri occurs abundantly in apple trees, but not in pear. Hippodamia convergens he has proven to be an injurious insect, as he has seen it feeding upon the leaves of cabbage. Moreover he has poisoned with Paris green and killed the beetles. The Chinch Bug occurs in the western part of the State on corn. The cabbage crop is almost invariably destroyed by the Harlequin Bug and other insects. The Plum Cureulio is very abundant upon peaches. Cattle Ticks (Ixodes bovis) are very abundant in the Southern part of the State. The remedy in use is to feed the cattle equal parts of sulphur and salt continously. The question of the action of the sulphur was brought: up by Mr, Fletcher and Mr. Marlatt, and Dr. Marx stated that the sulphur was eliminated by the sudoriferous glands, thus bringing it into contact with the ticks. 35 Mr. Smith considered. Mr. Weed’s experiments with Paris green against Hippodamia convergens not conclusive as indicating their phy- tophagic habit, as the beetles might have been feeding upon plant lice and thus have been poisoned by the Paris green. Mr. Popenoe stated that he had found Hippodamia feeding upon rust spores. Mr. Weed described the treatment of Cotton for the Cotton Worm by means of a long pole carried across a mule’s back with a bag of Paris green hanging to each end of the pole. In this way four rows of Cotton can be treated at once with undiluted Paris green. Mr. Webster stated that in Louisiana four sacks were thus strung upon a single pole. Mr. Kellicott presented the following note: NOTE ON THE HORN FLY IN OHIO. By D. 8. Krvuicotr, Columbus, Ohio. Since the full accounts of the Horn Fly given in INSECT LIFE and else- where, I, as many others doubtless, have sought for it wherever I had an opportunity. I remember no reports of its occurring west of the Atlantic border, but it certainly has a foothold in central Ohio. Dur- ing the first week of July last I found it in great numbers on the farm of Mr. A. Freed, Pleasant Township, Fairfield County. Large patches were seen on the backs and about the horns. The animals referred to had been dehorned, but the fly, true to its instincts, congregated about the stumps. At Sugar Grove, 8 miles south, a few were found, whilst at Rockbridge, 4 miles farther down the Hocking Valley, none were to be found. There appears to be none north of the first-mentioned Station, as I had a fair opportunity to examine cattle at Lakeside (Lick- ing reservoir). They have not been seen at Columbus. It seems from the limited observations I have been able to make that it is spreading southward from near Lancaster. The Baltimore and Ohio Railway passes but a short distance north of this place, and it is easy to see that it is possible, or indeed probable, that it was introduced by trans- portation in cattle cars from the East. Mr. Smith stated that the Horn Fly was not injurious in any part of New Jersey last year, stockmen adopting the plan of spraying with fish-oil compound. He also stated that the plastering of the dung was practiced in his State in small stock yards. Mr. Howard said that even in large grazing fields this latter plan is often practicable in spite of the objections which stock-growers urge. At the time when the flies are ovipositing the cattle are generally con- -gregated in some one spot for shade. Mr. Lintner said that he heard of the fly in the southeastern portion of New York State. 36 Mr. Osborn said that there had been an unverified report of its occur- rence in Iowa. He believes that the plaster treatment of the dung will be practicable in his State. Mr. Fletcher said that many remedies which are considered imprac- ticable by farmers prove eventually to be very practicable, and he in- staneed the poisoned ball system for cutworms, and said that standing grain can be sprayed with knapsack pumps. The Secretary then read the following, which was addressed to the President, Mr. Fletcher : NOTES OF THE SEASON. By Etranor A. ORMEROD, St. Albans, England. You pay me the compliment of suggesting that I should send a short report of my entomological work of this year up to present date. But though it would indeed be a gratification to me if anything I could mention should be thought of interest, yet I feel such a hesitation in submitting anything I can say to such a supremely well skilled tri- bunal as that of the meeting of the Association of Economic Entomolgists at Washington, that I will rather endeavor to give, in letter form to yourself, some notes of what we have been doing, from which, if you judge fit, you could lay some points, with my best respects, before the meeting. Paris green.—\ think that I may now report the use of Paris green in fluid state (as a remedy for attacks of orchard caterpillars) as having thoroughly taken root in this country. It is not yet as widely spread as could be wished, but the very large amount of inquiry sent me during the spring and summer months as to the nature and method of application of the remedy gives me good hope that its use is extending. We have neariy, if not entirely, overcome the clamor as to the use of a “deadly poison,” and now I have rather to attend to the other side of the question and warn as to the necessities of care. My correspondents are not without a sort of dry jocoseness in the matter, for having cautioned one inquirer that if he sprayed his goose- berries he had better have a large gooseberry pie made and consumed by himself and household as a proof that all was right, I presently received a donation of as fine green gooseberries as could be desired. Did he wish to transfer the experiment, I wonder? About effect of Paris green on leafage, one of my correspondents reports to me that in his plum gardens (32 acres) he syringed twice with Paris green at a strength of 1 ounce to 10 gallons, using the ‘‘ Gelair” sprayer. He did not begin until the plum blossoms fell, and had to syringe twice because of the badness of the attack, also because rain came. The syringing © was very carefully done so that there was no observable dropping from 37 the leaves, and on the 10th instant he wrote me: “TI have an extraordi- nary crop of plums in consequence.” With regard to foliage of the sprayed trees, he says : I find that the Pershore Ege Plum, Victoria, and Damsons, have their foliage quite uninjured and looking very healthy ; but Czar and Rivers Early Prolific are decidedly injured, and New Orleans in a lesser degree. These are all the varieties I grow. ividently some varieties of plums are much more easily injured than others by Paris green. (I. R). I hope, before preparing my next annual report, to obtain detailed information on this subject from various quarters, but I think the fur- ther observation of my correspondent (M. J. Riley, of Putley Court, W. Ledbury) well worth attention here until we are more experienced. I syringed 60 acres of apple trees which were badly attacked by caterpillars, 1 ounce to 20 gallons, which seemed to kill the caterpillars, so that one naturally asks, why make it any stronger for plums? (I. R). But I find difficulty in persuading people to be moderate, as they desire a strong spraying to do all the work at once. M. J. Riley further notes, relatively to effect of method of spraying, that last year (before we could procure proper sprayers) he had only common garden syringes; that he syringed *‘ Damascenes,” badly in- fested, with the same strength of Paris green now used with success on several kinds of plums, namely, 1 ounce to 10 gallons, and too much being put on so that the trees dripped, the lower branches were killed. After our real difficulties, and the boundless and fathomless amount of damage and trouble predicted last year, it is a very great satisfac- tion to me to have trustworthy reports of the excellent state of foliage of trees properly sprayed last year, and also to find the greatly lessened amount of caterpillar presence which occurs compared to previous ap- pearances where Paris green applications or banding have been prop- erly attended to. But I should be ungrateful and fail in proper thankfulness if I did not acknowledge tbat, for this benefit to British fruit-growers from the use of Paris green, we are indebted, I believe, primarily, to the exer- tions of our respected friend, now holding the distinguished office of Entomologist of the Department of Agriculture of the United States of America, and likewise to the careful working forward of the subject both in the United States of America and Canada, and for myself Jam bound to say (and [ hope you will permit me to acknowledge) that but for the efficient aad kind help you were good enough to give myself and our Gresham committee, I greatly doubtif we could have pushed the subject to its present well-based standing. Our Gresham fruit committee is doing good work by the investiga- tion of the members being extended to all other noticeably injurious fruit attacks which they discover to be present. These are entered on at their meetings. Where the insect pestis unknown to them they for- ward it to me and I identify (or procure its identification) for them, and 38 with the addition of their practical observations of life history, and means of prevention and remedy, added to what we find recorded, we make serviceable advance. It would be very advantageous if we had more such committees, for the work is so very real. No make believe or fanciful remedies gain the stated formal ‘approval of a body of experienced fruit-growers whose returns depend on the treatment of their crops. This year we have been working up for one thing, the Raspberry Bee- tle, Byturus tomentosus, Fab., which Mr. C. D. Wise finds at the Tod- dington fruit grounds, may be best got rid of by shaking down into bags moistened or sprinkled with paraffin. The Raspberry Bud Caterpillar of the Lampronia rubiella, Bjerk., has also. been greatly troubling raspberry growers by its injury to the young buds and sometimes in the canes. We hope by gathering the infested buds or neighboring bunches of leaves in which the larva has pupated, and destroying these, to have forestalled much recurrence of next year’s attack. Plum Sawfly has also made a slight, and Apple Saw-fly a very de- cidedly injurious appearance. I conjecture that the similarity (to general inspection) of the attack of the latter to that of the Codling Moth Caterpillar has caused it not to be generally noticed before, and J hope to be able to add some notes on the changes in appearance of the larve. In all respects of habits and appearance preceding pupation this Saw- fly larva agrees with such descriptions as I have access to of that of the Tenthredo testudinea Klug (= Hoplocampa testudinea Klug), but pre- viously I find that instead of the head being tawny or pale chestnut, and little trace of color above the caudal extremity, that the head is pitchy black, and there is also a pitchy black plate above the tail pre- ceded by a cross band and a few small markings also pitchy or black. We have traced this change by the observer (Mr. Wm. Coleman, of Cranfield, Beds.) watching specimens for me in natural conditions through their transformations. I think that if this change has not been noted it will be of serviceable interest to record it, as on first glance the variously marked larve appear to be of different species. For prevention of recurrence of this attack I am suggesting lightly shaking infested trees over cloths sprinkled with some mineral oil, so that the caterpillars which are very fairly active should not escape. Plum Sawfly has been only reported from one locality. The bud-galls on Black Currant caused by the Phytoptus ribis or Black Currant Gall Mite have been present to a seriously destruetive extent. We know of no remedy for this attack excepting use of soft soap and sulphur wash, or, as a preventive of spread, breaking off the bud-galls. We, however, have found this year that parasites are at work in the persons of Chalcids, which we have not yet identified spe- cifically, and from some small amount of further observation I venture 39 to hope that we may find a dipterous larvais also aiding us in preventive service. I fear these simple matters may not be worth your attention, but I just mention them as a part of the work to which our fruit growers are giving careful attention. The field crop insect pests have been very prevalent this year, and at this time we have just begun a heavy visitation at three places in the east of England of the larvie of the Plutella cruciferarum Zell (Diamond- back Moth as we eall it), But I ought not to venture to intrude on your time more than with just two observations more. One, that I find the distorted growth of heads of Tares ( Vicia sativa) which I drew attention to in my fourteenth report is originated by the presence of Cecidomyiid larve. [found them present in large numbers, and have carefully figured the head and caudalextremity and likewise the anchor process, which agrees so minutely with that of Cecidomyia legu- minicola Lintner that I am looking forward with impatience to the devel- opmentoftheimago. My special colleague in observation of this attack . (Mr. A. Hamlin, of Chellowes Park, Lingfield) has planned an arrange- ment in the open field by which the imagos when they rise from the soil wiil (according to all ordinary habits of insect procedure) be safely trapped conveniently for examination. I am sparing no pains also my- self to develop the imagos, though I have not the opportunity to attempt to rear the larve in absolutely natural and undisturbed circumstances. My other observation is regarding the Hypoderma bovis, the War- ble Fly. We are still fighting ignorance and idleness and downright knavery, which are the supports of continuance of this attack; but I had the great satisfaction this summer of hearing from Mr. Bailey, the head master of the Aldersey Grammar School, Bunbury, Tarporly, Che- shire, that it was not worth while to give mea detailed report again this year, as for all practical purposes the attack was now stamped out in the district. This gratifies me exceedingly. Some six or eight years ago Warbles were described “as plentiful as blackberries” in the district, and, under the teaching of their admirably intelligent master, the boys, who are mainly sons of farmers and agricultural laborers, set themselves yearly to clear all the cattle they had access to of the maggots. I had yearly detailed reports of quantity killed, and now I can point to the district and to the satisfaction of the cattle owners as a proof of what can be done by the simplest hands where head and heart go to the work. But now I ought not to add another word, and if there is anything in the foregoing pages which you think worthy of bringing before the distinguished Entomological meeting at Washington it will be a great gratification to me. I should like much to be present myself, with the double pleasure of seeing many whom I know by their letters are kind friends to myself, and also learning much that would be of enor- mous benefit to me. (Torrington House, St. Albans, England, July 20, 1891.) e A() Mr. Southwick moved a vote of thanks to Miss Ormerod for her excel- lent paper. Adopted. Mr. Osborn spoke of the great value of Miss Ormerod’s work against the Warble Fly as showing how combination among workers can bring about almost entire immunity from this pest. Miss Ormerod’s plan should be adopted in this country. Mr. Fletcher also spoke highly of Miss Ormerod’s work in this inves- tigation. Mr. Marlatt, however, stated that the plan of gathering the bots from the backs of cattle can only be practiced in the Kast, where the cattle are domestic, and will not pay for the trouble in the West, where the cattle are wild and would have to be roped and thrown. | Mr. Fletcher thought, however, that the saving of hide value alone would pay for this trouble. ; Mr. Southwick thought that it would be a very easy matter to rope and throw the cattle in the West, and considered that it would pay. Mr. Osborn called attention to the fact that the majority of Western cattle are sent East and slaughtered so that the bots have no chance of maturing. He insisted upon the ease of stamping this pest out in restricted localities in this manner, since the flies do not migrate to any extent. Mr. Kellicott stated that he had known the Warble Fly to be very bad in Oswego County, New York. Mr. Lintner stated that it is not a general pest in New York State, but occasionally a local one. Mr. Lintner further stated that Miss Ormerod has proven the Plum to be less susceptible to the arsenites in England than the Apple—a remarkable fact and not at all in accordance with our experience in this country. This difference probably depends upon climate and upon difference in varieties. Mr. Southwick suggested the reference of this question to the bot- anists. Mr. Fletcher stated that different varieties of plums show with him great difference in susceptibility to this treatment. He spoke of the great variation in the texture of the leaf and in other particulars in the varieties of Plums. Much work must be done in this direction. He also mentioned the great susceptibility of the Peach. Mr. Alwood mentioned the fact that the addition of lime water to the arsenical mixture absolutely prevents the burning of the foliage. Mr. Cook had found the Bot-fly attack much less in cleared farms than in wooded farms. In regard to the arsenites, he said that an abundance of Aphids and consequent weakening of the vitality of the tree might make it more susceptible. Mr. Smith suggested that the water referred to by Miss Ormerod might contain lime salts so as to make the application more innocuous. He stated that the chemical reasons for the prevention of injury to % — 4l - foliage by the addition of lime water are given in the appendix to his annual report of the present year. Mr. Popenoe presented the following: NOTES ON THE RECENT OUTBREAK OF DISSOSTEIRA LONGI- PENNIS. By E. A. PoPpENOr, Manhattan, Kans. [Secretary’s abstract. ] July 10 to 19 the author visited the northern part of Lincoln County, Colo., on account of newspaper reports of the stopping of trains by grasshoppers. He found astrip of country 16 by 25 or 30 miles in extent fairly covered with locusts, which proved to be Dissosteira lon- gipennis, a western isotype of the eastern D. carolina. They were con- gregated especially in the boundaries of this area. The country is poor and planted here and there to Corn and Sorghum, and there are occasional patches of garden vegetation. The season has been favora- ble and cool. The locusts are said to have come in swarms from the South last fall and to have settled along the Big Sandy Creek in a patch two or three miles in circumference, in which they layed their eggs in great numbers. Upon hatching this spring the young spread outwards. At the time of his visit in the northern part of the strip the insects were in the last larval and pupai stages, with very fewimagos. At the south line, however, the winged individuals were very abundant and flew like birds. The young hoppers had the habit of crawling up the side of buildings for a few feet, presumably for warmth. They were not strictly confined to roads, but traveled over bluffs and rounded hills, eating the buffalo and gramma grass. The winged individuals flew always to the south, but the others spread regularly outwards in all directions. The line of march was quite visible at some distance on the hillsides,and sheep-growers had to change the localities of their flocks. In marching, as a general thing, they preferred to follow the roads, moving quite rapidly, about 1 mile in 6 hours for 6 or 8 hours in a day only. They are credited with all the destruction which has been done by all kinds of insects, and he thinks that they did but very little damage to potatoes and corn, although marching through the fields in great numbers. At the time of his visit they were marching through wheat fields in the same way, but since he left they have done some damage to this crop. Many dead ones were noticed in one locality, but no signs of parasitism were found. It is supposed that they were destroyed by hail. In his opinion the insect oceurs generally upon low ground rather than upon high ground. Mr. Bruner said that this species is very seldom found below 3,000 feet or above 5,500 feet elevation. It occursin Nebraska, Kansas, Col- orado. Wyoming, and northeastern New Mexico. It preferably locates 42 itself on the side of hills or the upper portion of slopes where the veg- etation is scattered. Its near ally, D. carolina,is found throughout North America following civilization in cattle yards, roads, and streets. He had also seen the dead locusts in one locality in eastern Colorado and considered that they had been killed by hail. Mr. Popenoe said that he had really found that they had stopped trains, but upon steep grades only and by greasing the rails. Mr. Osborn has found this species in southwestern Kansas in the higher portions of river valleys and feeding upon the grass along the roads. Mr. Beckwith presented the following : NOTES ON A CORN CRAMBID. By M. H. Beckwiru, Newark, Del. [Secretary’s abstract. ] For three years the author had heard complaints in the southern counties of Deiaware of an insect ealled by the people a ** Cutworm.” This year at the experiment farm at Dover many hills were destroyed by this insect which he had had an opportunity to study. The land was in Timothy last year and planted to Corn the present season. Large num- bers of the larve were found, sometimes 30 in a hill, working around the outside of the stalk below the surface of the ground in silken galleries, but not boring into the heart of the stalk. He had sent specimens of the moth which he reared to the Department of Agriculture and it had been determined for him as Crambus caliginosellus. He had tried Paris green, but does not know with what effect: Mr. Smith had heard of a similar attack on Corn in New Jersey. He advised the farmers to put on a heavy dose of kainit just after plowing and had heard no more complaints. Mr. Osborn suggested that if the insect works like Orambus exsiccatus plowing at the right time will prove effective. Mr. Howard said that the insect was abundant in 1886 at Bennings, Md., and that the only remedy which he was able to suggest at that time was plowing immediately after harvest. Mr. Alwood doubted whether kainit would act as well as the refuse salt from meat-packing establishments, which he had found to be a good cut-worm remedy if sowed before planting. Mr. Smith recommended kainit because it is a fertilizer as well as an insecticide. Mr. Alwood stated that kainit is a bad form of potash for tomatoes and potatoes. Mr. Southwick said that his grandfather used to drop a salt herring into each corn hill as a preventive against Cutworms. 48 Mr. Beckwith said that he had applied a fertilizer and salt in Dela- ware for Cabbage and thus prevented Cutworms, as he proved by a check experiment. F Mr. Alwood uses tobacco also in fertilizers as insecticides. Mr. Smith presented the following paper: NOTES OF THE YEAR IN NEW JERSEY. By Joun B. SMITH. During the spring of 1890 tne larvee of the Clover-leaf Beetle, Phyto- nomus punctatus, appeared in great numbers and threatened to become seriously destructive. A fungoid disease opportunely attacking them, the vast majority were killed off before they were more than half grown. Some few escaped, however, «and the threat of injury was repeated dur- ing the spring of 1891. The numbers were not so great, however, and the fungus disease stepped in as before, destroying the larve before they had done serious injury. = Complaints of twig blight in apple were made early in the season, and on investigation two coleopterous insects were found to be con- cerned init. One of these, the larva of Hupogonius tomentosus, bored through the center of the new wood, or rather that made during the previous year, and killed the twig. The beetles appeared in June. The other was a small Scolytid,probably Hypothenemus, which made short galleries in the extreme tip of the twigs infested by the Longicorn larva. It is probable that this attack is secondary, and not made while the wood was sound. Some discussion was had at our last meeting concerning the points of the tree attacked by the larva of Saperda candida. This led me to observe carefully during the present season, and I find that while in quince the attack is almost exclusively at the base of the tree, in apple and pear, any part of the trunk and even the larger branches may be attacked. The larve are more numerous at the base, as arule, but the other localities are not by any means exceptional. I know that no other larvee were concerned, because I cut out pup and imagines as well, and am certain of my facts. Peach borers, the larve of Sannina exitiosa, are now largely treated by mechanical coatings to the trunk. The favorite means is the one recommended by me in the bulletins of the station and at farmers’ meet- ings. Itis simply athick whitewash with Paris green and glue added. I have never discouraged the use of other mechanical coatings, but have taken great pains to explain that no remedial results must be expected ; that the measure was protective merely. The use of paint, as sug- gested by Mr. Alwood, does not find favor, owing to a fear that injury may result to the tree. Blackberry insects have been particularly observed; but as I have already described these, a mere mention here is all that is needed. 44 The Rose-chafer, Macrodactylus subspinosus, has been less destructive than usual. My studies on this insect have appeared in bulletin form, and I need only emphasize here that all my tests of remedial measures ~ were made in the field under ordinary field conditions, and that the results are such as would likely be obtained by a farmer employing them. The Grape Flea-beetie made its appearance very early in the year, be- fore even the leaves had made their appearance, and began eating the buds. I recommended collecting in kerosene pans early in the day, and this proved effective. About a pint of the beetles were sent me in grateful acknowledgment. Root maggots have been very abundant, and onions have been most severely attacked. In some places the young sets have been com- pletely destroyed. This pest is now pretty well distributed in the trucking districts around Philadelphia. Aphides on orchard fruits, and particularly on apple, became very abundant during a three weeks’ drought near New Brunswick, and * blackened tips everywhere caused serious alarm. A cold storm lasting two days broke the drought, and apparently checked the multiplication of the species. There was no further increase of injury, at any rate, and no other complaints reached me. The melon vines have suffered greatly from attacks of Aphides, but still more from a bacterial disease. The damage done by the latter is quite usually attributed to the Aphides. I have made some study of squash insects, more particularly of the “ Borer” Melittia ceto, of which I have previously spoken. The Striped Beetle, Diabrotica vittata, does not bother our large growers very much. When they seem abundant, they use lime or plaster on a day when there is a gentle wind, sowing it on broadcast. The beetles fly before itand are driven off the field. The next man takes up the work on his field, and so the beetles are driven off until they reach some unguarded field which is then usually injured quite seriously. Hpilachna borealis has been very abundant, and has eaten characteristic patches at the edges of theleaves. The insects made their appearance as soon as the squashes were well up, but did not begin mating or ovipositing until the middle of July. Larvee were not found until August. This gives quite a long period for the mature insect. It is easily kept in check by the use of the arsenites. The Corn Bill-bug, Sphenophorus sculptilis, appeared in large numbers in Burlington, Salem, and Gloucester Counties, and perhaps in other surrounding regions. The beetle drilled the characteristic holes in the young plants at or near the surface and thus destroyed many acres of corn. I advised replanting after a short delay, and the second crop of plants was undisturbed. The insect was a new one to growers, and its appearance in such numbers eaused consternation. They were most numerous on old sod, but by no means contined to such land. 45 Diplosis pyrivora has been complained of as an injurious species for the first time. It has reached Newark, Montclair, Elizabeth, and Pat- erson, so far as my information extends, and has probably been in some orchards for at least three years. Where it first made its start in this State I have been unable to ascertain. The Lawrence pear is the one most generally attacked, in one orchard over 90 per cent of the fruit being infested. From an examination of the infested fruit I believe the egg is laid in the ovary, or if not that, the young larva does not pierce the fruit, but follows the pistil into the ovary or seed chamber, the opening in this variety of pear being quite wide. In many cases also this same passage is used by the larva to leave the fruit where it remains sound and does not crack. This promises to be one of the most dangerous of the fruit pests. Spraying fruit trees with Londou purple has been very generally practiced in New Jersey and always with most gratifying results An unexpected result has been the destruction of the fungus on the pear which so generally disfigures varieties like the Bartlett. Fruit on sprayed trees is fine and clean, that on the others is spotted and clouded and of an inferior grade. The Plum curculio has made a plum crop almost impossible in New Jersey. I made only one experiment myself during the season, spray- ing one tree with the kerosene emulsion, 1 to 12, once a week for six weeks. At the end of that period nearly every plum on the tree had from one to six larve, and I called the experiment a failure. Several grow- ers who had a few trees only report a iavorable result in spraying with the arsenites, and there seems little doubt but that a certain percent- age of fruit can be saved in this way. For small trees of choice varie- ties I suggested cutting out theegg. This was done ina few eases with absolute success. It leaves only a trifling scar, no more than that of the original puncture, and is certain in effect. Of course this would not answer on a commercial scale, but for choice fruit in the garden it is not impractical, and might be used to supplement spraying with arsenites. - I have followed out my inquiries into the actions of certain fertil- izers as insecticides, and am more than ever convinced that in kainit we have a powerful agent for the destruction of forms infesting sod- land. Where this material is used before planting corn even on old sod, cutworms and wireworms will do no injury. In addition I always advise fall plowing to give the winter a chance. Direct exper- iments in the laboratory show that Elater larvz will die in soil that contains kainit, though it acts slowly and two weeks are required to produce a complete result. The experiments will be given in detail elsewhere. Mr. Alwood, in discussing, said that ne had recommended London purple against Fuscicladium for some years. 46 Mr. Riley presented the following paper: GOVERNMENT WORK AND THE PATENT OFFICE. By C. V. RILEY, Washington, D.C. [ Author’s abstract. ] The paper was based on a patent recently obtained by three parties in California for the treatment of trees by hydrocyanic acid gas for the destruction of scale-insects and other insects that injuriously affect trees. It reviewed at length the efforts of the Department in this line of investigation and showed conelusively that this gas treatment had originated and been perfected by one of the agents of the Division of Entomology, who had, in fact, for the past five years, been carrying on a series of experiments in this particular line under the author’s direction; that so soon as the treatment came to be recognized as of the greatest utility and perfected so that it was cheap and available to all needing to use it, application for a patent was made by the parties in question, and in spite of an official protest from the Department of Agriculture pending the application, a patent was finally granted, as, under the law, the Commissioner of Patents has no right to consider ex parte tes- timony pending examination, even though offered by an officer of the Government in the interest of the pubile. The fact that the process had been fully described and recorded in official reports from the De- partment of Agriculture did not prevent the issuing of the patent. So valuable is this treatment considered that an effort has been made in southern California to subscribe the sum of $10,000 to buy the right from the patentees. The author remarked that he personally had no hesitation in advising the orange-growers to pay no heed to the claims of the patentees, and that it would be wiser to combine to oppose them if suit were brought than to subscribe to give them an undeserved and valuable royalty. His own conviction was that the patent was invalid and the certificate but a piece of paper carrying no absoiute evidence of priority of inven- tion; and it is greatly to be regretted that, through legal technicality or otherwise, it should ever have been granted. The author mentioned other cases of this kind where, after years of labor and large expenditures on the part of the Department of Agri- culture, valuable results-had been obtained. In some cases they took the form of mechanisms, which were described and figured in the official reports; in other cases of mere discoveries. He said: There is nothing more discouraging to an officer of the Government engaged in original investigations, with a view to benefiting the public, than the efforts of various private individuals to appropriate the results, of which the foregoing case is an ex- ample. I have been engaged now for nearly a quarter of a century either as a State or Government officer in investigations, having for their object in the main the pro- tection of plants and domestic animals from the attacks of injurious insects. Hither AT directly or with the aid of assistants these investigations have resulted in some im- portant discoveries of universal application, and I can say with pride that, though often urged to take personal advantage of such discoveries, I have in no single in- stance accepted a fee for information given, or received a dollar from any application of these discoveries, even where others have reaped fortunes. As a salaried officer my duty was plain, and I make the statement, without boastfulness and simply to em- phasize the discouraging fact, that in every instance where the benefit to the public has been great, either the honor has been contested by private parties or else means have been taken by private individuals to control, through patent or otherwise, the discoveries for their personal ends. It would seem that on this account the Patent Office should endeavor, in considering applications for patents for objects which the Govern- ment is already endeavoring to accomplish, to ascertain fully what the Government has done, as any other course will tend to pervert, dis- courage, and neutralize all honest efforts made by other Departments of the Government for the public good. It would seem, also, that there is need of some modification of the law in so far as Government evi- dence is concerned. Mr. B. P. Mann said that no patent can be held valid unless held by the inventor. The Government ought to get out a patent on the broad invention, and it could then prevent the present holders of the patent from using it. Mr. Riley and Mr. Mann further discussed the subject. The president announced that a reception, to which all were invited, would be held at Mr. Riley’s residence, Sunbury, Wyoming avenue, at 7 o’clock this evening. The meeting then adjourned. AFTERNOON SESSION. The meeting was called to order at 2:30 p. m. by President Fletcher. Twenty-eight persons were present. The minutes of the preceding ses- sion were read and approved. The committee on nominations reported the following nominations for the ensuing year: For president, J. A. Lintner, of New York. For first vice-president, S. A. Forbes, of Illinois. For second vice-president, J. H. Comstock, of New York. For secretary, F. M. Webster, of Ohio. On motion, the report of the committee was adopted, the committee was discharged, and the officers named were declared elected. The name of George H. Hudson, of Plattsburg, New York, was presented by Mr. Lintner; that of H. A. Morgan, of Louisiana, by Mr. Weed; that of B. P. Mann, of the District of Columbia, by Mr. Bruner, and that of Miss M. E. Murtfeldt, of Missouri, by Mr. Riley. All of these names were ordered inscribed upon the roll of members. On motion of Mr. Howard, seconded by Mr. Smith, it was resolved that the next meeting of the society be held at the place of, and two 48 days preceding, the next meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Mr. Riley read a paper entitled “‘ Dermestes vulpinus and Tobacco,” which is held for publication elsewhere. Mr. Southwick stated that he had found Dermestes under the bark of a mahogany log in New York, and that it had entered this crevice for pupation after having originally fed upon some animal matter. Mr. Howard read the following note : A NOTE ON PARASITES. By L. O. Howarb, Washington, D. C. The object of this brief note is to impress upon the members of this association the fact that one can not be too careful in statements for publication concerning the relation between a given parasite and its host. The possibilities of error are very great, as a few instances will show. In 1882, while studying the Army Worm at Huntsville, Ala., I no- ticed an Ichneumonid walking about a fence-rail over which the worms were swarming in countless numbers. The parasite was apparently excited, walked and flew from one part to another, occasionally alighted upon acaterpillar and brought her ovipositor into position. I captured her, and in my notes wrote *‘ Found ovipositing upon the larva of Leu- cania unipuncta.” Nowit transpires that this Ichneumonid was Bassus scutellatus, and, as the concensus of rearing experiments shows, the species of this genus are parasites of Diptera, and my inference was in all probability entirely mistaken. If the original observation had been published it would have been absolutely necessary for perfect safety to have detailed the circumstances in order that future students should not be misled. Recently a well-known entomologist sent to Professor Riley specimens of the common Pteromalus puparum with the record ‘*‘ Reared from the cells of a mud-wasp.” From what we know of the habits of this para- site we may take it for granted that had the entomologist in question examined the cells of his mud-wasp he would have found specimens of some lepidopterous larva or pupa stored up as food tor the young of the wasp and that from these stored-up insects the parasite had emerged. Within the last few weeks specimens of a Chalcidid were received from a most careful observer and excellent collector, with the statement that they were reared from the eggs of a saw-fly deposited in a willow leaf. While [I am not in the habit of discrediting any statement which this gentleman makes, and while I have learned by experience that his accuracy is something astonishing in this world of error, the faet re- mains that this parasite is plainly from the known habits of its near rel- atives an enemy of some lepidopterous or dipterous leaf miner, and that 49 never under any circumstances could it have been anegg parasite. He had probably put his willow leaf in a pill box and had later found the parasites in the box. He did not examine the leaf carefully for traces of a leaf miner or he would never have sent in the record. Where the parasite is reared from a gall or from a twig burrowed by some other insect it often happens that it is assumed to be parasitic upon the gall maker or upon the most abundant twig borer. Such an assumption should never be made without a complete statement of the facts and without the most careful examination of gall and twig, to see whether they were not inhabited by other insects either as inquilines or parasites, or in the case of twigs as perhaps unnoticed borers. Instances like these might be multiplied, but this will suffice to indi- cate the absolute necessity, first, of extreme care in forming conclu- sions, second, of detailing all circumstances which may possibly have led to error. It is only by such careful work as this that we can ever arrive at proper conclusions concerning the group habits of parasites. Our present published records are full of error and require a most care- ful sifting of evidence, which in many instances can no longer be obtained, The most heterogeneous and unlikely errors in many genera are published, and the discriminating work is of extremely slow avcom- plishment. Mr. Fletcher stated that he had seen an Ichneumon ovipositing upon a glume of wheat upon which there was no insect. Mr. Doran stated that he had reared a parasite from Bruchus scutel- laris. Mr. Howard stated that this parasite was probably an undescribed species of Mr. Ashmead’s genus Bruchophagus. Mr. Osborn presented the following paper: REPORT OF A TRIP TO KANSAS TO INVESTIGATE REPORTED DAM. AGES FROM GRASSHOPPERS. By HERBERT OSBORN, Ames, Iowa. In accordance with instructions received July 24, to visit and report on grasshopper injury in western Kansas, I started the following morning for Kansas and improved every opportunity on the way to learn of grasshopper injury. The following account is in advance of a report prepared for Dr. Riley. At Des Moines, where I waited a few hours for the Kansas City train, I went through a large number of Kan- Sas papers, kindly placed at my service in the office of the State Register and lowa Homestead, without, however, getting any information ex- cept assertions in some places that there were no hoppers in Kansas. From a gentleman lately through Arizona I learned of the appearance of considerable numbers in that Territory, and the expectation that these might be travelling eastward. At Kansas City I was equally 79L1—No, 1——4 50 unsuccessful, the only information received there being the statement of railroad men as to the occurrence of hoppers on the railroad in Col-- orado (the case investigated by Professors Snow and Popenoe), and of some in Arizona, along the line of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fé Railroad. At Topeka I went first to the office of the State Board of Agriculture. The Secretary, Mr. Mohler, was absent, but the gentlemen present, Messrs. Longshore and Nyswander, kindly gave me a full statement as to the information the office contained. They receive reports from over 600 correspondents who are scattered over the entire State, the western portion being well represented. They assured me that not a single report had been received by them which mentioned injury from grasshoppers, and they were positive that no damage was being done. At the newspaper offices I received similar replies, except that in the oftice of the Kansas Democrat I learned of a report that some damage had been done in Kearney County. As this report, however, was some- what indefinite, I hesitated to make it the basis of a special trip to the extreme southwest part of the State, and Lawrence being so near at hand, I concluded to go there to see if Professor Snow had any recent information. Professor Snow was absent, but his assistant, Mr. V. L. Kellogg, kindly gave me all the information he could. He said that they had heard nothing from the region that had been examined by Professors Snow and Popenoe in Colorado, except that the winged insects were moving south, and he was sure that none of these had entered Kansas. He also informed me that they had received information of injuries at Garden City, and showed me specimens of Caloptenus differentialis and bivittatus received from there. This information tending to substantiate the report of damage in Kearney County, I decided to visit Garden City, and took the first train for that place. On the way I kept careful outlook for any signs. of damage, and improved the opportunity of occasional stops to collect . specimens and inquire of residents as to the prevalence of grasshoppers. All answers agreed in denial of any unusual numbers of grasshoppers or of injury from them, and it was not till I reached Garden City that I learned of any damage. Here I was told that the alfalfa fields were being ruined, and it was only a short time after my arrival that I was in a field a fale from town where the conditions showed at once the state of affairs to be serious. The alfalfa was badly stripped, the blossoms and seed ontiiiee eaten up, and in many patches the stems were stripped bare of leaves, look- | ing brown and dead. The grasshoppers, mostly dtfferentialis, with a considerable number of bivittatus, when rising in front of me as I walked through the field, formed a cloud eight or ten feet high and so dense as to hide objects 51 beyond them. Here I noticed a number of grasshoppers dead from the attacks of parasitic Tachina. From this field I went to another, owned by the same man, which was also well filled with grasshoppers, but the injury here was less, espe- cially around the buildings, where a large number of turkeys were doing excellent service in killing the hoppers and at the same time adding rapidly to their own weight. In a field of sorghum directly adjoining there was also considerable | injury, but differentialis seemed scarce, while a bright green species, Acridium frontalis Thos., was abundant and apparently the principal agent of destruction. This species was also noticed here and in other places occurring in great abunudauce on the wild sunflower so common on these plains, and the question arose whether this was not its natural food plant and its attacks .n sorghum incidental. The day following I spent the forenoon with Dr. Sabin, who kindly furnished a horse and cart and accompanied me in examining a num- ber of farms within five miles of Garden City, where alfalfa fields and orchards were injured. I met and talked with a number of farmers who had suffered from grasshopper depredations, and the information re- ceived from them with what I gained by personal observation satisfied me that losses could be avoided by proper measures. I learned that the same injuries extended farther west along the river where alfalfa was grown, and I proceeded from Garden City to Lakin, observing on the way that all alfalfa fields showed presence of grass-. hoppers, but that in some cases the bloom was still free from serious injury or destroyed only in patches. At Lakin I learned that injury had been serious, especially on the place of Mr. Longstreth, some two miles from town. Some fields near the river and occupying low land were noticed in full bloom and showing little damage, but still grass- hoppers could be found in abundance by closer inspection of the fields. Mr. Longstreth’s son, being in town, drove me out to his father’s farm, and accompanied me on a tour through his extensive orchard of ten acres, _his oat fields and alfalfa fields, in all of which the damage had been serious. Many of the trees in the orchard were entirely stripped of leaves, and in some cases the bark had been eaten from the limbs. The alfalfa presented the same appearance as observed in other fields. I found here a great many dead grasshoppers, whose empty shells at- tested the activity of Tachine. I was told by Mr. Longstreth that skunks were amongst the most active enemies of the grasshoppers, and he believed played an important part in reducing them. He had even seen one up in anapple tree catch- ing hoppers on the limbs. I learned at Lakin that alfalfa was also grown in the next county west, at Syracuse, and that damage was also reported there, but on reaching the place found the injury slight as compared with the other places visited. In fact, aside from one farm on which some damage to 52 alfalfa and orchard had occurred I could learn of no loss. Caloptenus differentialis I found in some numbers, and there is little doubt that unless some effort is made this fall and next spring to destroy eggs and young they will multiply as in other localities, and probably by next season prove as destructive as in them. As this point carried me into the westernmost row of counties in the State, and there was no report of damage farther on, I determined to eross northward to the Missouri Pacific Road, in order to follow up some rumors regarding damage from grasshoppers at some points intervening, and which, from the descriptions given, seemed possibly to be due to” Dissosteira longipennis. No point where serious loss occurred was found, however, and this species occurred but sparingly at points between Syracuse and Tribune, and occurred at Horace only in smail numbers, too few to cause any apprehension for the immediate future at least. Taking the Missouri Pacific, | passed through to Kansas City without finding any evidence of damage from grasshoppers, and as I could learn of no other localities in the State than in the three counties examined where such damage was reported, I returned to Ames, and will now pro- ceed to a detailed account of the territory examined, the species ob- served, and the special measures needed to meet the outbreak in this section. THE TERRITORY AFFECTED. The damaged territory is quite easily defined and might very prop- erly be said to coincide with the irrigated portion of the Arkansas Valley lying in Finney, Kearney, and Hamilton Counties in southwest Kansas. The entire irrigated district, however, is not equally injured and there are some fields much less damaged than others. The whole area covered extends with occasional breaks a distance of about fifty miles along the river and forms a strip from one to five miles wide but limited entirely to areas where irrigation has been practiced, and within this limit is dependent upon the kind of crops raised. The greater damage was observed at Garden City, though nearly as bad was seen at Lakin, and but little was found at Syracuse, corre- sponding as near as I could learn pretty closely with the length of time since alfalfa has been made a principal crop on the irrigated lands. THE CROPS AFFECTED. Alfalfa is the crop in which there is the most loss, but orchards are suffering badly, and were they extensive throughout the district would very probably present the heavier loss. The alfaifa crop is a very profitable one and easily grown with irriga- tion and has been very extensively planted, the fields devoted to it covering many thousands of acres. The injury to this crop is of such a nature that I believe practical remedies may be adopted, and, as will be stated later, active measures should be adopted this fall and next spring. 53 THE AMOUNT OF INJURY. The great loss this year has resulted from the destruction of the seed crop. In many fields this has been a total failure, and the loss may be considered as covering thousands of acres and involving many thou- sands of dollars. One man who had something over 100 acres in alfalfa considered that his loss amounted to about $2,000. While he expected to cut and use the crop for hay, the damage had been such that the hay would be little better than after the seed crop had been secured, and he reckoned the full loss of the seed crop for the season. In some cases ‘farmers were cutting for hay when they had intended to allow the crop to go to seed, and in this way were reducing the amount of their loss by the value of the crop of hay cut early over what the hay would be worth after maturing seed, the latter, of course, being much less valua- ble than the hay cut before seed matures. In many cases the farmers had been depending largely upon the crop of seed to help them out of debt, and the loss from the grasshopper injury falls heavily upon them. THE SPECIES DOING THE DAMAGE. The Differential Locust is, I think, chargeable with fully nine-tenths of the destruction, both in alfalfa and orchards, and the reasons for its increase in this section seem to me quite evident. The irrigated fields of alfalfa furnish it with favorite food in abundance throughout the year, and have given it an opportunity to multiply rapidly without ex- hausting its food supply. The ditches which traverse the fields and possibly parts of the fields themselves furnish a most excellent location for the deposition of eggs, the ground being compact and for the most part undisturbed through- out the year. That the eggs are deposited in or alongside the ditches is indicated by several facts, though at the time of my visit the locusts, while pairing, were none of them ovipositing. In the first place, the greatest damage has occurred in strips on eitherside of the ditches, and only in the worst fields extends over the entire field; second, at the time of my visit the pairing individuals were quite evidently collecting more particularly in these locations; third, the testimony of those who seemed to have observed most closely agreed in placing the greatest number of young hoppers in spring along the borders of the ditches, a point which is clearly supported by the injured strips so plainly to be seen. Noone whom I questioned had seen the locusts in the act of ovipositing. The ditches contain no water during a large part of the year, and in fall the compact bottom, which doubtless affords more moisture than the fields in general, would seem an excellent place for the deposition of eggs, as well as the banks on either side. Judging by the habits of these and allied species in other locations it would be hard to conceive a more favorable place for the deposition of eggs, and it seems to me 54 very probable that this, as well as the suitability and abundance of the food, may be considered an important factor in the rapid inerease of the species in the last three or four years, an increase that has taken place directly with the cultivation of alfalfa by irrigation. It would seem aiso that this habit renders the insect especially open to attack, and I see no reason why concentrated effort may not entirely prevent a repetition of the damage another year. MEASURES RECOMMENDED. The situation, it seems to me, is one deserving serious attention, but: one which offers every hope for successful work, if the residents of the affected localities can but be induced to make a little effort at the proper time. The injury for the present season is mainly past, as the grasshoppers are in large part mature, many already pairing, and the loss of the seed crop, the heaviest part of the loss, beyond repair. The effort, therefore, must be toward preventing the damage another year, and it Seems to me very desirable that the Division should distribute to the people of this section a careful set of directions for their guidance this fall and next spring in working against the grasshoppers. The means which appear to me from inspection of the ground to promise most successful results would be as follows: (1) To thoroughly break up the surface of the ground in and along the ditches before winter by harrowing thoroughly, cultivating or shal- low plowing, thus exposing the eggs to winter weather and natural enemies. (2) Wherever practicable, to flood the ground for a day or two at the time young locusts are hatching. I was told that the young hoppers were entirely unaffected by water, as they would crawl up the alfalfa stems and escape, and it is probable that sufficient fiooding to accom- plish much good in this region is out of the question. My only hope in this line would be in watching carefully for the time of hatching, and using the water before the hoppers had obtained any growth, and if abundant along the ditches, putting a little kerosene on the water. (3) A use of the hopperdozer as early in the season as possible, when I believe the treatment of a strip eight or ten feet wide on each side of the ditches would destroy so large a part of their numbers as to prevent any serious damage. As I learned from a number of parties the hop- pers are scarcely half grown when the first crop is cut, it would seem that immediately after cutting the first crop would be the best time to use the hopperdozer. The hoppers would be large enough to jump readily and the dozers could be run very easily. It would be difficult to use them at any other time than directly after a crop was eut, as the dense growth of alfalfa would obstruct their movement. My strongest recommendation would be the urging of effort in break- ing up egg masses before winter, and then in case locusts still appear 55 in any number in spring to resort to the dozers at first opportunity. I believe active use of these measures will be effectual, with a cost but trifling compared with the value of the crop to be saved. The information as to the species and the measures needed are cov- ered very fully in your Bulletin on Destructive Locusts, and with some specific instruction regarding the treatment of ditches in this special locality would, I think, give the people of the district affected all the information necessary to protect themselves, and it would seem advisa- ble to send a number of copies of that bulletin to the postmasters at Garden City, Lakin, and Syracuse to distribute to farmers, who would make use of them, as well as to those whose names I will furnish for this purpose. OTHER SPECIES OBSERVED. The species next to differentialis that I should eall most abundant in the injured fields was bivittatus; but taken alone its damage would have been insignificant. Its habits are so nearly like those of differ- entialis that I see no occasion to give it further mention, and I have little doubt that any measures adopted against differentialis will prove as effective against this species. Still other species occurred, but seemed generally distributed, and so far as injury in the devastated fields is concerned need no mention. THE LONG-WINGED LOCUST. Dissosteira longipennis was taken in some numbers at all points vis- ited in Finney, Kearney, Hamilton, and Greeley Counties, and as this species has caused so much injury in eastern Colorado this season, I took rather special pains to note its abundance and inquire as to any destruction resulting from it. At no point did it occur in destructive numbers, and I should not look for any injury from it in these localities in the near future at least. Most of those noticed were winged, some still fresh from the pupa stage. In general all the winged ones, when disturbed, moved south- ward, but nothing like a general migration was seen. At Lakin I was told by a Mr. Logan that a large black-winged grasshopper had been common near that place, and when winged had traveled uniformly southward. PARASITES AND DISEASE. The many parasitized grasshoppers noted indicated a multiplication of such forms and these will undoubtedly accomplish much in reducing the numbers that van deposit eggs this fall, but | should deem it un- wise to depend on them and to omit the active measures already urged. The most general parasite was apparently the Tachina flies, as the great majority of dead hoppers were found to be completely devoured within, and in most cases the opening through which the maggot had 56 issued was to be seen. Adult Zachinw were also observed in the in- fested fields. Some of the dead grasshoppers had the appearance of having been affected with Entomophthora,and I gathered a number in order to make an effort to cultivate the disease, but as yet have nothing to report in this line. The dead hoppers will be kept with living ones, and if the latter take the disease we may hope to still further multiply the dis- ease by inoculating still others, and then an effort can be made to dis- tribute the disease in the fields. Its spread, however, is evidently slow, and I do not think other measures should be neglected this season for a plan which is still uncertain. Among the natural enemies observed, toads were perhaps the most common, some of the fields containing great numbers of them, espe- cially of half-grown individuals, and these would seem capable of greatly reducing the numbers of hoppers. A dead one, which saved me the necessity of making a dissection to get positive proof, showed in the partly decomposed stomach the legs and other parts of grasshoppers, proving that, as would be inferred from presence of toads in the fields, their mission was to feed uponthe grasshoppers. The attacks of skunks upon grasshoppers, as stated by Mr. Long- streth, have already been mentioned. As the tendency is for natural enemies to multiply with the increase of any species of insect, we may look for increased assistance from this source by another year, and in connection with the measures already urged, these ought by another year to keep the insect entirely within the limits of destructiveness. Mr. Osborn then read the following paper : THE CLOVER-SEED CATERPILLAR. (Grapholitha interstinctana Clem. ) By H. Ossorn and H. A. Gossarp, Ames, Lowa. On the evening of the 23d of May many smail dark brown moths were noticed flying about a clover field upon the College Farm. They were resting upon the blossoms and among the leaves, and upon being dis- turbed would fly a few paces and then settle again. These moths proved upon examination to be Grapholitha interstinctana Clemens, the parent forms of the Clover-seed caterpillar mentioned in the Entomolo- gist’s Report to the Commissioner of Agriculture in 1880. We had during the past winter received specimens of clover seed which we suspected of being damaged by this pest, which has been reported as jnjurious in some of the states east of us in the last year or two. The moths are also remembered as occurring at Ames in numbers some eight or ten years ago. They were not, however, at that time connected with any damage observed in clover fields. 57 The moths increased in number from the time they were first observed until, by the 3d of June,in the early evening, when the field lay between the observer and the sun, a perfect cloud of them could be seen hover- ing over the blossoms as far as the eye could reach. They would spring up from under the foot like grasshoppers in a meadow on a sunshiny day. It was also noticed that they were pairing freely at this time. On the 24th of June an examination of 177 heads of clover taken from the field before mentioned showed 91 heads infested with the cater- pillar of the moth as against 86 not infested. Many of the larvze were full grown and some were spinning their cocoons. The hay was cut at this date. An examination the next day, June 25, of 48 clover heads taken from scattered bunches on the college campus showed 8, or 163 per cent., of the whole infested. Examining 42 heads from a different field, cut on the 23d and 24th of June, only 3, or 7 per cent., were found infested. The damage was done by eating into the young florets and later into the seed vessels, causing the heads to dry up and the flowers to shell from the receptacles like chaff. The larva is a small, greenish white caterpillar, with a dark brown head, about .25 to .30 of an inch long when full grown, many of them becoming tinged with red toward the hinder extremity as they approach the time of pupation. About the 24th of June the adults had nearly all disappeared, a few stragglers only being found by diligent search. Of a number of larve preserved in a breeding cage the first pupa was found July 14, but a visit the same day to the field before mentioned proved the second brood of the adults to have already appeared. An examination of dried bunches of hay left on the field disclosed some larve in the heads, which had spun their cocoons to pupate, from which it is concluded that the caterpillars can live in the cut hay for a con- siderable time if not hampered in their movements. An examination of the hay from the same field stored in the barn showed all the larve to be dead. A dead pupa was also found, but nothing living. There were no empty pupa cases found to indicate that any moths had escaped from the hay thus stored. It seems certain, therefore, that everything that was subjected to the pressure and heat incident to storage was killed. The remedy, tien, for this pest, which has caused the destruction of probably 50 per cent of the clover seed in the field observed, is to cut the hay soon after the first brood of larve appears, or in early June. The hay should be carefully cleaned from the field, so that no larve will find harbor in stray bunches which have not been gathered up. Scattered clover growing by the roadsides and in the fence corners should also he carefully mown at this time, and the heads at least disposed of in some manner to insure the destruction of the larve they may contain. This method can not but prove effective in reducing the second brood of the moths, and will also operate against the clover-seed midge Cecidomyia leguminicola. 58 The track of the larva is very uniformly from the base of the head upward, and the younger larvee are almost invariably found near the base and beginning their work on the florets there. It would seem, therefore, that the eggs are deposited at the base of the receptacle, and the larvee upon hatching may begin at once upon the older florets. In working upward, roughly speaking, they usually form an irregular spiral track around the receptacle. The delicate, white, silken cocoons of this insect are spun in the head among the dried florets, frass and bits of eroded but undevoured flow- ers so covering them with brown as to make them difficult of detection. The pup work their way entirely out of their cocoons and drop to the ground before bursting their pupa cases, which may be found in abun- dance on the ground from which a brood has just issued. The second brood was observed pairing during the last week of July, and August 5 the larve were found in great numbers, one havy- ing at that time spun its cocoon preparatory to pupating. The rate of growth would seem to establish that there are three broods per year at Ames, and possibly, though not probably, four. [In advance from a forthcoming Bulletin, No. 14, of the lowa Experiment Station. | Mr. Alwood presented a communication, of which he has furnished the following abstract : STANDARD FITTINGS FOR SPRAY MACHINERY. By WILLIAM B. ALWooD, Blacksburgh, Va. [ Abstract by author. ] It is my desire to briefly present to this Association a matter with which doubtless many of your members are already familiar, and which I feel confident will meet the hearty approval of all the economic workers. At the Champaign meeting of the Association of Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations, held in November, 1890, I presented a paper before the botanical section, dealing with some of the newer forms of machinery used in fungicidal work, and pointed out the great inconven- iences under which we labored from the diversity of styles and sizes of fittings and thread connections used in the various machines now offered by manufacturers. The subject was considered of such importance that a motion was earried to ask the sections of entomology and horticul- ture to unite with the botanists in appointing a conjoint committee, which should be charged with recommending ‘to manufacturers such styles and sizes of connections and fittings as were thought to be most convenient in the practical work of treating injurious insects and the fungus diseases of plants. This committee, as finally organized, was composed of the writer, as chairman, Mr. D. G. Fairchild, assistant. mycologist of the Department of Agriculture, and Prof. James 8 LORD: horticulturist of the Indiana Experiment Station. 59 This committee issued a circular letter to manufacturers which met with a very general and cordial response from them. Nearly every one fully indorsed the ideas set forth by the committee, and most of the prominent parties agreed to carry out the committee’s suggestions so far as practicable with the state of their business. By the time stand- ard styles of fittings could be circulated among the makers of spray machinery the season of 91 was so far advanced that we could not hope to affect much change during the current year. However, now that interest and sympathy with this effort have been awakened, we believe that it is possible through united effort to secure all we ask in this line. While we are all aware that the members of this Association are in large part station entomologists, it is also true that some very prominent members are not connected with station work; hence my reasons for bringing this subject before you for discussion. To any one who has had actual experience in field work the importance of bet- ter, and, I will say, uniformly standard sizes of fittings, can not be doubted, and to aid in securing this desideratum is the chief purpose of my paper. Ishall at an early date publish an illustrated circular dealing with the question of styles and sizes of fittings, which «will give detailed information, both for the use of manufacturers and the special workers. On motion of Mr. Smith, seconded by Mr. Lintner, it was— Resolved, That the Association of Economic Entomologists heartily indorses the work of the committee from the Association of Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations, appointed for the purpose of consulting the manufacturers of spray ma- chinery, with the end in view of securing the adoption of standard sizes of connections and attachments on such machinery. Further, the Association of Economic Entomologists urges upon the manufacturers of this machinery the importance of acceding to the request of this committee. The association requests the committee to publish its recommendations, with drawings and descriptions, for the information of manufacturers and special workers, and to include in this publication a jist of all manufacturers who have agreed to conform to the standard sizes. Mr. Kellicott stated that in his opinion firms which will not comply with the request to manufacture standard fittings should be requested to furnish an adapter to their machines which will enable their use with the standard fittings. Mr. Southwick presented the following: ENTOMOLOGICAL WORK IN CENTRAL PAF. By E. B. Sourawick, New York, N. Y. { Author’s abstract. ] The work of the entomologists of the department of public parks is in the care of trees, shrubs, and plants, under the directions issued by the president of the board of commissioners. The work of removing the egg masses of Orgyia leucostigma was the 60 first done in this department, when 12 men were employed to clean the — trees, benches, walls, and stonework in the parks. ‘The first autumn of our work we collected 15 bushels of these cocoons and egg masses, leav- ing those cocoons that were apparently parasitized until the final clean- ing. The large elms on the Mall were thoroughly cleaned with steel brushes made for the work, and each tree received a wash to destroy any insects that might be in the crevices of the bark. This work of collecting (and burning in the furnace) has been carried on each year as the force would allow, in this way keeping them in subjection. We now treat them in four different ways: (Ist) By hand-picking, of which bushels are each year taken from the trees with tools especially adapted for this work. (2d) By jarring the larve down with a pole, so arranged then a blow from a mallet on a projection placed at the large end of the pole will jar any down that may be on the branches. With a sudden blow most of them will fall to the ground, when they can be crushed. (3d) By poisoning the foliage with London purple, which is quite effective and used especially on very large trees that can not be treated otherwise. (ith) By poisoying or spraying the trunks of large trees with an emulsion of petroleum and carbolic acid. This penetrates most of the cocoons sufficiently to kill the inmates, the disadvantage being that it kills the parasites too. This method is only resorted to when the egg masses are very numerous and we are short of help, and as a means of reducing the next brood. Large numbers of trees were so treated this season to arrest the late summer hatchings. The next insect in abundance and destructive working was the Bag Worm, Thyridopteryx ephemereformis. Whole portions of the parks were literally stripped of their foliage; many of the trees on the drives were nearly aS bare as in winter. So abundant were they that the branches were strung with their cases, and with one push ofthe instru- ment prepared for collecting them, a handful of these cases would be taken. Four kinds of tools were made for this work, and the cases were collected and destroyed. In this way nearly 22 bushels have been col- lected and destroyed. The Datanas have always been abundant in the parks, and as many as 15 pounds of caterpillers have been taken from a single tree. These are collected while massed, as is their habit, and then destroyed. Hyphantria cunea is very abundant in our parks and has been de- stroyed by cutting down the webs as far as was possible. If the tree was too valuable, they have been twisted out with poles made especially for this work. In some eases spraying has been resorted to, but as this does not remove the unsightly web, the most practical thing to do is to remove the whole colony. ; Clistocampa americana has this year appeared in our parks for the first time, and in great abundance. The webs that appear on the trees 61 before they are in full leaf can be easily removed, and in this way the finer trees can be protected. The eggs are also removed in the late autumn and winter, as they are very conspicuous. Vanessa and Grapta sp. are sometimes very abundant, and are collected and destroyed as soon as discovered. Cecropia and Hacles are always abundant and on many of the smaller trees do much damage. These are hand-picked and destroyed. Alypia octomaculata is one of our most troublesome caterpillars, the great abundance of Ampelopsis vines in the parks, and especially around it, covering ‘‘squattersovereignty” houses, affords congenial food for its rapid propagation. In the parks the vines are twice annually treated with a solution of London purple, applied with a spraying machine. This is found most effective and the vines do not seem to be injured as easily as most plants by the arsenites. The Elm Beetle, Galeruca xanthomelena, has given us an immense amount of trouble, and many thousand trees have been sprayed each year for their destruction, and with good effect. The means we have adopted during the past three years is rather more in the preventive line. As soon as the first eggs are found that part of the tree is at once sprayed. Iam inclined to think the Elm Beetle is double-brooded with us. The Elm Borer, Zeuzera pyrina, is getting to be very destructive with us, already twelve species of trees and shrubs are affected by it, and during the past year two men were kept during May at collecting the larve from broken branches. All branches as soon as detected in a weak or broken state are removed and the larve extracted. In very choice trees the limbs are carefully examined and where holes can be found bisulphuret of carbon is put in with an oil can and putty put over the hole. This is only resorted to in the case of rare trees and shrubs. For scale insects the trees are washed with preparations and then cleaned with steel brushes, leaving all in fine condition. Many thou- sand trees and shrubs have in this way been put in fair condition. A large number of poisons have been experimented with for Aphis and other insects, due notice of which will be given in reports soon to be published. The spraying machine used by the department of public parks is a two-barrel machine manufactured by the Nixon Nozzle Company, Nixon, Illinois. This machine, to better adapt it for city work, has been en- tirely remodeled. A set of strong cab wheels, with a strong axle, was first made, then a pair of strong easy springs, so as to make the tank less liable to jars. The tank was lined with zine entire, and on top of the tank was placed a well about a foot high to keep the liquid from flushing over. On the rear of the tank was placed a box for poisons, hose, ete., and on the front a box for coats, lunches, and collecting cases and botties. On one side of the machine and running nearly to the -horse’s breast was placed the bamboo pole used to elevate the hose, 62 are i and on the other side long-handled pruning shears. Thus equipped the men drive all over the city and are at any time or place ready for work at short notice, i Our parks comprehend nearly 4,000 acres and are from one extreme to the other 16 miles apart. The work with the present force and ap- pliances is chiefly centered in the island parks and places. Mr. Cook read a paper entitled : SOME HISTORIC NOTES. By A. J. Coox, Agricultural College, Michigan. Upon special request, | am very pleased to state the following facts © regarding the early use of the kerosene emulsion and of the arsenites. I used kerosene and soap mixture, as I then called it, successfully in 1877. Lused very nearly the same proportions that I prefer now, heated it to dissolve the soap, and I think made a permanent mixture. Dr. C. V. Riley argues that I only made a temporary mixture, which he says was made years before, although I have been unable to find the record. Whether it were an emulsion or not, it was very successfully used, as successfully as in later years. That I appreciated the importance of the emulsion, or even recognized it or produced it except as an accident, is not true. Messrs. Barnard, Hubbard, and Riley did this as the result of extended experimentation, and heralded the facts forth to the world, and I gladly accord to them the chief credit. As to Paris green, I believe my friend Hon. J. 8S. Woodward, of Lock- port, N. Y., was the first to announce it as a specific against the Cod- ling Moth, which he did in the autumn of 1878. He relates to me that he advised a neighbor to use it to destroy the canker worms. The neighbor observed that the trees treated were very free from Codling _ Moth larve, and Mr. Woodward divined the cause. I had a very simi- lar experience the same year. Mr. J. W. Tafft, of Plymouth, Mich., came to me in 1878 with specimens of canker worms, which he said were destroying hisorchard. I advised Paris green, which ne used with the same results that greeted Mr. Woodward’s neighbor. Mr. David Allen reported the facts tome. I said, can it be possible that the poison has worked this double benefit? I will test the matter. Mr. Woodward had already announced his belief in the matter. In 1879 I made the first careful test and proved by a most crucial test that Paris green was not only a specific against the insect but safe to use. The results of these experiments were given at the Boston meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, August, 1879. The results which I then secured were remarkable beyond what may usually be ex- pected or hoped for. This was because I treated a small tree and took special pains that every fruit should receive the poison. As great care to-day will meet with the same success. Thus while Mr. Woodward mon 63 was the first to suggest and announce this remedy, I was the first to prove and announce positively that it is both safe and effective. So far as I know I was also the first to determine the best proportion—1l pound to 200 gallons of water—and to show that it is safe te pasture in an or- chard at once after the poison is applied if the application is properly made. Mr. Osborn read the following paper: AN EXPERIMENT WITH KEROSENE EMULSIONS. By HERBERT OSBORN, Ames, Jowa. The most satisfactory method of preparing the valuable kerosene emulsion is desired by all and a comparative test made this season may be of interest. The first was a preparation in which the formula advocated by Pro- fessor Cook was carefully followed, using the hard soap and not the soft-soap formula, the materials while still hot being thoroughly mixed with an egg beater. The result was that we had what appeared to be an excellent emul- sion, but in a glass jar we could soon see a separation taking place, the white emulsified part rising to the top and the water or soapsuds gradually increasing at the bottom. This continued until there was about two-thirds or a little more of soapsuds and one-third or less of emulsion aboye it. While this at first could be readily mixed again a day later, the soap- suds in the bottom had hardened into a jelly that when mixed with additional water would but incompletely dissolve and the clots included caused great inconvenience by clogging the nozzle. The other preparation nade according to the usual formula for soap emulsion (the Riley-Hubbard formula) emulsified and remained fixed with but a very few drops of soapsuds gathering at the bottom, even after days of standing, showing that the proportions were such that the soap water and kerosene balanced each other. This thickened to a buttery consistence, but dissolved perfectly in water, and only a trace — of oil arose to the surface when thus mixed. A microscopical examination of the substance prepared by Professor’ Cook’s formula showed the buttery mass above to be apparently a good emulsion and the jelly-like mass below to contain scarcely any traces of oil globules. A similar examination of the second preparation showed in different samples as usual a uniform emulsion. I conclude that in the first case I formed an emulsion, that is the oil was broken into minute globules and these coated with a film of soap- suds so that they did not coalesce, but that there was such an excess of soapsuds that the emulsion separated therefrom and rose to the top. It is evident, I think, at sight that the preferable preparation is the 64 one which combines the proportions so that no excess of either ingre- dient results, for, as indicated, the hardening of the thick soapsuds re- sults in clots and these interfere with spraying, while to skim off the emulsion and leave the mass below is a useless labor and loss of ma- terial. In the Riley-Hubbard formula we have evidently the exact propor- tions carefully determined, and I feel obliged to recommend this formula when giving advice to those wishing instructions as to preparation of kerosene emulsion. Mr. Wallace read a note of which the following is an abstract: A NOTE ON SILK CULTURE. By PauLt WALLACE, Los Angeles, Cal. | Secretary’s abstract. ] The author reviewed the attempts which have been made to raise Silkworms in this country, and stated that they had proven the entire adaptability of the United States to this industry. He stated that all that was needed to make it a success was either a bounty paid by the Government or an import duty upon raw silk, but to his own personal knowledge attempts in this direction were thwarted by the work of large silk manufacturers who were bitterly opposed to the establish- ment of silk culture in America. He urged that the Association should use its best efforts to foster a popular sentiment antagonistic to such efforts on the part of the manufacturers of silk. Mr. Lintner, in discussing this paper, contended that there is no question as to our ability to raise good silk, but that it will not pay. He spoke particularly of the work of the division of entomology in experimenting in this direction. Mr. Cook read the following article by Mr. G. C. Davis: NOTES ON A FEW BORERS.- By G. C. Davis, Agricultural College, Michigan. If we go on the principle that ‘‘ every little helps,” even though it be slight and incomplete, then perhaps a few notes incidentally picked up on our forest borers may be of some utility at this time. Dr. Packard’s work on forest insects, so recently issued, is of inestimable value to the © working entomologist, but by the reporting of the few observations we happen to make while at our other work we can make the volume still more complete and helpful. Perhaps the habits of some of these species may already be known, but as they have not been specially re- ported in this work, reference is here made to them. 65 From the maple was reared the Cerambycid borer Acanthoderes decipiens. It was found as a pupa in the rude chip case just under the bark. The cylindrical burrow made in its exit extended well in toward the heart of the tree and through quite sound wood. Another Cerambycid, Leptura proxima, was found quite numerous in blocks of hard maple sawed from the tree the winter previous. The grubs were quite large, and it was thought that they would pass ‘through the transformations that season, but it was not until a year from the following May that the first beetle issued. From the data given it seems that the borer must require two or more years to reach maturity. In “ Forest Insects” Dr. Packard mentions Lyctus striatus under the list headed “ Found in rotten oak wood; not known to be injuri- ous.” We have quite recently found them issuing from a red oak floor in one of our college halls. The floor was laid two years pre- vious to the time of this appearance, and the lumber was seasoned at that time. The beetles issued from the sap wood ouly, and prob- ably were feeding there when the tree was sawed into lumber. In order to learn more of their habits quite a number were placed in a glass jar containing a branch of green oak, one of dead oak, and a seasoned stick from the shop. The beetles preferred the lat- ter when first introduced, and made themselves at home hy boring a hole entirely through it diagonally the first night. Mating took place in a few hours after issuing and eight days later ovipositing was first noticed. Mating again took place before each egg was deposited. This seems essential, asa female was placed by herself immediately after mating the first time, and, although watched for several weeks after the others had died, no sign of ovipositing was noticed. The brarch of green oak was preferred in depositing the eggs, and none were placed on the stick from the shop. Ovipositing occurred about once in half an hour and lasted but one day. One week after oviposition young larve were found. We arein hopes to get the complete life history from them. From the oak posts of one of our summer houses were taken quite a number of Phymatodes dimidiatus along with P. varius. Four different kinds of wood—elm, maple, hickory, and ironwool—besides the oak, enter into the construction of the chalet, but none of the others showed signs of borers, while the oak was well perforated. The species seem to work mostly just beneath the bark. Two specimens of Alaus oculatus were taken in the trunk of a white oak near the partially decayed heart. A full-grown larva of this was also found in the trunk of a ‘‘ sappy” aspen. On the 10th of June a piece of bark was torn from an aspen (Populus tremuloides) that had but recently died, and under it signs of insect depredations were quite evident. Upon further investigation the bark and wood were found to be almost entirely separated. Underneath, the wood was yet sound and quite green, Here were found galleries pene- 7911—No, 1——5 ose 66 trating almost to the heart, and in them were found Hnchodes sericea in the imago stage, although some of them were yet in the pupa case and nearly as soft and white as a pupa. These beetles belong to the family Melandryide, which contains a number of quite diversified genera that in general live on fungi or under bark. As far as their habits are known those living under bark do not seem to be injurious as borers, and whether we can consider this species as merely working in decayed wood or as a borer in green wood can hardly be decided by this one instance. It is certain that the larve are capable of penetrating sound wood. The beautiful little Buprestid, Pecilonota cyanipes was reared from the aspen. When found, June 9, it was inthe pupa state in the axil between the body of the tree and quite a large branch. So much had been eaten around the base that the branch was already dead. Mr. Harrington reports capturing the species on a dead willow stump, and, Mr. Fletcher a specimen on a dead aspen stump in Ontario. Galls made on branches of the willow, Salix discolor by Agrilus tor- pidus have been found quite common in certain districts near here, and in other districts was found Saperda concolor in galls equally as numer- ous. Inno case yet noticed have the two been found in close proximity. The galls made by the Buprestid are an oval swelling of the live branch very similar to the one made by the Saperda. Inside there is a dif- ference in the architecture of the home. While the Saperda remains mostly within the swelling and makes its exit through it, the Agrilus bores an oval gallery downward from the gall, sometimes in the pith, but oftener indiscriminately through the wood, and makes its exit often an inch and a half below. The imago issued about a month later than the Saperda. From the Saperda galls were reared two species of parasites. One of these is Pimpla pedalis and the other belongs to the genus Bracon, which we have yet been unable to get named. Galls on the willow also yielded us a few specimens of the handsome Sesiid, Sciapteron tricincta, as named by Professor Fernald. The galls: did not differ in appearance externally from the others. Inside the gall a tunnel was made downward along the center for an inch. ‘he whole. cavity was lined with a soft, delicate, though very strong, buff cocoon,, and undisturbed in this silken bed the larva passed through its trans-. formations to the moth. From Hylesinus aculeatus, the Ash Scolytid, was reared a species of Bracon, pronounced by Mr. Ashmead as probably a new species. From a species of trefoil, Ptelea trifoliata, was reared a species of the Tineid genus Hyponomeuta. Wherever the shrub was found the thin white web was quite common early in the spring before the leaves were out. These webs were always at the terminal portions of the green shoots. The caterpillars, entering the stalk usually at the terminal bud, would bore down through the pith some three to six inches in the shoots 67 connected by the web. The larvze seem to remain in the stalk only part of the time, but spend the remainder of the time above in the web. The twigs, of course, are killed down as far as the larvee go, which great- ly mars the symmetry and beauty of the bush. This habit of boring is probably a generic characteristic, as several European species are mentioned as having similar habits. Mr. Cook read the following note: THE POPLAR GONIOCTENA. By A. J. Coon, Agricultural College, Michigan. The past spring the poplars about the Michigan Agricultural College were seriously and extensively defoliated by a Chrysomelid beetle, Gon- ioctena pallida Linn. The larve were first found in early June, so that wedid not have the eggs. The larva is much like the Elm-leaf Beetle in form and color. The beetles appeared June 21. They are yellowish brown, except the eyes, epicranium, two horn-like spots, and a central oval spot on the posterior portion of the prothorax, the scutellum, two large spots, one on each elytron near the scutellum, two nearly as large rounded spots near the suture, and just posterior to the center, three small spots along the lateral margins, and the entire underside of the body except a narrow margin, which are black. The beetles came forth late in June, but we found no larve or eggs, The Secretary then read the following notes: NOTES OF THE SEASON FROM SOUTH DAKOTA. By J. M. Atpricu, Brookings, S. Dak. Cutworms have been more injurious than ever before. From limited data, I judge that the loss in the State reaches several millions of dol- lars. Corn, flax, gardens, and other crops suffered about in the order mentioned. At our station the large Willow Sawfly (Cimbex americana) is much less injurious than for several years. I havereared six or seven species of parasites from it, four of them being numerous. The Cottonwood Leaf Beetle is with us in large numbers, as usual. Our experiments in spraying with arsenites for this insect are more successful than heretofore, and I now feel confident that it can be con- trolled (though not exterminated) by this method. Our new Russian poplars, so desirable in other respects, are chosen by the beetle in pref- erence to cottonwood. Gooseberries have suffered from a combined attack of the Spanworm (Eujitchea ribearia) and the Sawfly. I have not observed the latter in our State till this year. 68 The Ash Borer (Trochilium fraxini Lugger) is still increasing rapidly, and will probably destroy most of the ash trees in the neighborhood of the station in two or three seasons more. The Ash Sawfly and the Sphinxes (Ceratomias) are assisting toa noticeable extent. The ash is a bad investment in our locality. In May the station procured five colonies of bees, aiming merely to see what they would do, with ordinary care, in a region devoid of natural timber with its accompanying honey plants (the nearest is five miles away). We have now increased to ten strong colonies. I have taken off 35 pounds of fine honey, and shall probably get 100 pounds or so of fall honey. Considering that the original swarms were weak, I think the record good so far. Of course the winter will try them. A building 16 by 32 was erected this year for our department. It has a wing 12 feet square for bees. In the main part we have an office and a small breeding room. We moved into the new quarters July 1. Mr. Alwood read the following paper by title: A NOTE ON REMEDIES FOR THE HORN FLY. By Wm. B. ALWoop, Blacksburgh, Va. This plague to cattle, which has now become so common throughout several of the Atlantic coast States, demands attention from workers in economic entomology. Doubtless some very good recommendations have been made by Dr. Riley, Professor Smith, and others, but as condi- tions vary we are bound to treat such questions from the standpoint of local practicability. The recommendation to lime the droppings when practical may prove avery good way of dealing with this pest, but with me it is quite impractical from the fact that lime is neither cheap nor easy to procure, and this is the case in many parts of Virginia. Some two years since, from a suggestion of mine in a lecture at Char- lottesville, Va., the late Henry M. Magruder began the use of kerosene emulsion on his dairy cattle. The application was made with a Japy knapsack pump, and though it had to be repeated with frequency, proved a considerable success. During the year 1890 I frequently rec- ommended this remedy, stating that the standard emulsion (Hubbard formula) should be diluted ten to fifteen times. The Horn Fly did not become troublesome at our place, which is in the upper mountains of southwest portion of the State, until late in 1890, and I did not, as a consequence, have opportunity to treat this insect myself. However, the present year they showed themselves in abun- dance in July, and I concluded to try my own recommendations. The experiments were made upon ten dairy cows, beginning with plain emulsion diluted ten times. I found that this killed a majority of the flies actually wetted with it, and produced considerable immunity from attack for the space of one to twodays. Desiring to make the treatment 69 more effective, | used as diluent a water extract of tobacco waste, made _ by thoroughly boiling one pound of tobacco in each gallon of water. This used with emulsion, 1 to 10 parts, gave almost perfect immunity for a period of three days. My work shows that two treatments with this preparation per week almost entirely relieve the cattle from annoyance. I make the applica- tion with a knapsack pump fitted with a cyclone nozzle. The work is most conveniently done just after milking in the morning. Two men treat the cows rapidly, requiring about one minute per cow, and using from one to two pints of liquid. The preparation as given above causes no particularly unpleasant odor, and thus far the milkers have made no complaint whatever concerning its use on the cows. The President announced that he had received letters of regret from Mr. J. H. Comstock, Mr. C, W. Hargitt, Mr. H. Garman, Mr. C. P. Gil- lette, and Mr. C. H. Tyler Townsend. On motion of Mr. Alwood, seconded by Mr. Smith, it was resolved that Mr. Riley be requested to publish the proceedings of this meeting in INSECT LIFE, and on motion of Mr. Smith, seconded by Mr. Bruner, the Secretary was instructed to send an abstract of the proceedings to the Canadian Entomologist. 7 , On motion of Mr. Southwick, the Association passed a vote of thanks to Mr. Riley and the members of his office force for the courtesies to members during the meeting of the Association. On motion of Mr. Osborn, a vote of thanks was extended to the Presi- dent for his able efforts to make the meeting a success. The Association then adjourned. L. O. HOWARD, Secretary. Just after the adjournment of the meeting the following communica- tion was received from Mr. Snow, one of the vice-presidents of the As- sociation, which, although it can not properly be incorporated in the minutes, may be properly appended here ; THE CHINCH BUG DISEASE AND OTHER NOTES. By F. H. Snow, Lawrence, Kans. In response to your circular letter asking for notes of work done in economic entomology during the past year I beg to submit the follow- ing brief and incomplete account of the work done in Kansas this year under my direction in the matter of the artificial dissemination of a contagious disease or diseases among chinch bugs: The legislature of the State of Kansas at its last session in the winter of 1890-91 made an appropriation of $3,500, available during the years 1891-92, for the purpose of carrying on these experiments. With this 70 money I have been enabled to largely increase the facilities of my laboratory and to conduct on a rather extended scale practical experi-, ments in the field. According to a provision in the act of appropria- tion, [ am required to make a monthly report to be printed in the official State paper of Kansas, the Topeka Daily Capital. From my last report, made on July 15, I quote as follows: Since making the last report, June 15, the wheat has ripened and mostly been harvested. The chinch bugs at harvest time left the wheat fields and invaded the fields of young corn. The experiments of 1889 and 1890 were carried on among bugs in the corn fields, and the experiments of this year in wheat fields are thus new fea- tures inthe work. The results have been gratifying, but the reports from this year’s corn fields and the investigations of my field assistant, Mr. Hickey, show that the massing of the bugs in the hills of corn offers more favorable conditions for the sue- cessful workings of the disease than the usual conditions incident to the presence of bugs in wheat. The hatching and appearance of the young bugs is a feature in the work added since the last report. It is with satisfaction that I note the evident communicability of the disease from old to young bugs by contact. The young bugs areas susceptible to the infection as the old ones. The part of the State reporting bugs in the corn fields lies between 96° 30’ and 98° 30’ west longitude ; or between a line drawn through Marshall, Pottawatomie, along the eastern boundary of Geary, Morris, Chase, and along the eastern boundary of Greenwood, Elk and Chautauqua Counties, and a line drawn along the eastern boun- dary of Jewell, Mitchell, Lincoln, Ellsworth, Rice, Reno, Kingman, and Harper Coun- ties. This bug-infested belt extends clear across the State from north to south. Scattering reports of the presence of the bugs are in from various eastern counties, and from a few west of the 98° 30/ line. Up to date (11a. m., July 15)infected bugs have been sent out from my laboratory to 1,700 applicants. To several of these applicants second lots of infected bugs have been sent, owing to failure to use the first lot for various reasons, and occasionally because of failure to get good resultsfrom the first experiment. But as many, if not more, per- sons have got dead bugs from fields wherein the bugs are dying because of infection sent out from my laboratory as have received bugs directly from me. Each success- ful field experiment has been the means of establishing a secondary distributing center. It is evident that the experiment of killing chinch bugs by infection with fungoid and bacterial disease is being given a trial on a large scale. The reports for the past month (June 15 to July 15) have been gratifying, in that they show a good percentage of success. However, reports are not made out as carefully as they should be, and worse, many experimenters make no reports. I desire to have a report on every lot of infected bugs sent out. Because of the difficulty of getting careful reports from the field, I sent out Mr. E. C. Hickey, an intelligent university student doing special work in natural history, as a field agent. Mr. Hickey’s last trip was through Chautauqua, Harvey, Sumner, Cowley, Butler, Greenwood, and Elk Counties, lasting from June 12 to July 6. He visited seventy-two persons who had experimented with infected bugs, and found over 80 per cent of the seventy-two experiments successful. Mr. Hickey personally visited the corn fields, and verified by careful observations the statements of the farmers. The laboratory facilities for sending out infected bugs have been largely increased, and all demands can be promptly met. Application for infected bugs received in the morning’s mail are answered with bugs and directions on the noon outgoing trains. The work of scientific investigation in the laboratory is going on steadily and care- fully. Inoculation experiments from pure cultures of Sporotrichum will be reported on next month. A feature of the work unnoticed previously in this report is the prevalence of Empusa, the fungus with which the first successful experiments were 71 conducted. Emptsa and Sporotrichum develop side by side in the infecting cages, and dead bugs sert in from fields where the bugs are dying show both fungi. At the close of the season I hope to present a full report of the laboratory investigations, which the brief monthly reports offer no space for. Prof. 8. A. Forbes, the eminent State entomologist of Illinois, who has experimented in his laboratory on the devel. opment of parasitic fungi in insects, and who early noted the bacterial disease of the chinch bugs, visited my laboratory last week. He expressed the hope that a series of field experiments such as are now being carried on in Kansas could be conducted in Tllinois. In closing, I may say that the outcome of the work so far this year is highly en- couraging. Since making this report the requests for infected bugs have grown much less numerous. The laboratory experiments have been carried on with more attention paid to bacteria. So far I have been unable to successfully infect bugs in the laboratory from pure cultures of Sporo- trichum. The Sporotrichum grows readily on a medium composed of beef broth and Irish moss, and pure cultures are easily obtained. Other experiments with these cultures are necessary, however, to make this statement positive. HEmpusa will not fruit on the plates. It be-- haves very peculiarly. Long erect filaments are sent out strikingly different from the customary hyphi, but no spores are produced. As regards the bacteria, I am assured that the forms in my cultures are identical with Burrill’s Micrococcus insectorum, two slides of which have been furnished me by Professor Forbes. This Micrococcus is found almost without exception in bugs which have died in the field and been sent in forexamination. Another Micrococcus, larger and almost per- fectly circular in optical plane, is often present in dead and dying bugs, Spraying experiments with fluids containing this Micrococcus give no successful results in infection. I am not in position at present to make a full report of the season’s work in the field and laboratory. This report I shall make in the late fall. x * * * * * * Other injurious insects besides the chinch bug in Kansas especially noticeable this year were the Hessian Fly, in about thesame abundance as usual. Much damage is annually done by this pest. The Wheat Straw Worm (Jsosoma tritici) was reported from a dozen or more coun- ties of the state in June. It occasioned considerable alarm and really did some damage to the wheat in central and western Kansas. I re- ceived reports of the presence of the worm from twenty-seven corre- spondents. It appeared in wheat which had been planted on stubble ground, though the state of affairs shown in one or two reports contra- dicted this general condition. One correspondent reports the worm in wheat planted on sod; another in a field of 40 acres new ground, only grown to wheat antes before, plowed last fall and after the wheat had come up fed off so close that the field looked quite bare. The Wheat Head Army Worm (Leucania albilinea) was reported in June from a _ few fields. However, little damage was done. (2 An attempted grasshopper scare was put down by alittle investiga. tion. Grasshoppers were reported to be in immense numbers in eastern Colorado and overflowing into Kansas. I made a trip to the infested region and found the grasshoppers to be a local species (Dissosteira longipennis), which was in great abundance over about 300 square miles of country near Arriba, Colo. Of course, no danger to Kansas was to be feared from these locusts. Arriba is 70 miles west of the Kansas line. The limits of the infested area extended approximately from Limon 16 miles east, 9 miles north, 7 miles west, and diagonally southeast to Hugo, 15 miles. Within this area the two favored grasses of the range, buffalo and gramma grass, were eaten to the ground. The swarms when visited (July 17) were almost entirely composed of pups. Reports agree that the eggs from which these swarms were hatched were deposited last fall by the locusts which flew into this area in August and September from the south. And by observations during my trip and by regular reports received since then I discovered that the locusts as fast as their wings were acquired were flying south. Whenever there was a favoring wind from the north the winged indi- viduals would rise high in the air and fly directly southward, having massed in great numbers along the southern boundary of the infested area. When the wind was from the south, however, no flying would be indulged in. The rate of progress of the army of immature locusts was northward at the rate of 9 miles in about two weeks; eastward at the rate of 24 miles in 12 days. Over the face of the country traversed by the hosts the ground looked bare and brown, owing to the almost com- plete destruction of the grass leaves. When the devouring multitudes were at work upon the grass the noise of the grinding of their jaws was distine tly audible as a well-defined crackling sound. About the station of Limon the hogs of the town were fattening upon the locusts, which also furnished food for turkeys, chickens, and hawks. 13 REVISED LIST OF MEMBERS OF THE ASSOCIATION OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGISTS. AMERICAN MEMBERS. William B. Alwood, Blacksburgh, Va. J.M. Aldrich, Brookings, 8. Dak. William H. Ashmead, Department Agri- culture, Washington, D.C. George F. Atkinson, Auburn, Ala. M. H. Beckwith, Newurk, Del. Charles J. S. Bethune, Port Hope, On- tario, Canada. Lawrence Bruner, West Point, Nebr. John P. Campbell, Athens, Ga. F. H. Chittenden, Department Agricul- ture, Washington, D.C. J.H. Comstock, Ithaca, N. Y. A. J. Cook, Agricultural College, Mich. D. W. Coquillett, Los Angeles, Cal. A. B. Cordley, Department Agriculture, Washington, D.C. E. W. Doran, Agricultural College, Md. C. H. Fernald, Amherst, Mass. James Fletcher, Ottawa, Ontario, Can. 8. A. Forbes, Champaign, Ill. H. Garman, Lexington, Ky. C.P. Gillette, Fort Collins, Colo. BP. W. Goding, Rutland, Ill. C. W. Hargitt, Oxford, Ohio. Charles A. Hart, Champaign, II. F. L. Harvey, Orono, Me. F. H. Hillman, Reno, Ney. A.D. Hopkins, Kanawha Station, W. Va. George H. Hudson, Plattsburgh, N. Y. George D. Hulst, 15 Himrod street, Prook- | lyn, N.Y. L. O. Howard, Department Agriculture, Washington, D.C. D.S. Kellicott, Columbus, Ohio. | J. A. Lintner, State House, Albany, N.Y. Otto Lugger, St. Anthony Park, Minn. B. Pickman Mann, Patent Office, Wash- ington, D.C. C. L. Marlatt, Department Agriculture, Washington, D.C. John Marten, Champaign, III. H. A. Morgan, Baton Rouge, La. Mary E. Murtfeldt, Kirkwood, Mo. F. J. Niswander, Laramie, Wyo. Herbert Osborn, Ames, Iowa. A. S. Packard, Providence, R. I.. Theo. Pergande, Department Agriculture; Washington, D. C. C. H. Perkins, Burlington, Vt. EK. A. Popenoe, Manhattan, Kans. E. Baynes Reed, Esquimault, B. C. C. VY. Riley, Department Agriculture, Washington, D.C. John B. Smith, New Brunswick, N. J. | F. H. Snow, Lawrence, Kans. | E. B. Southwick, Arsenal Building, Cen- tral Park, New York. J.M. Stedman, Durham, N. C. Jas. Stimson, M. D., Watsonville, Cal. H. E. Summers, Knoxville, Tenn. Roland Thaxter, New Haven, Conn. J. W. Toumey, Tucson, Ariz. | C. H. T. Townsend, Las Cruces, N. Mex. IF. L. Washburn, Corvallis, Oregon. I’. M. Webster, Columbus, Ohio. Clarence M. Weed, Hanover, N. H. H. E. Weed, Agricultural College, Miss. E. V. Wilcox, Columbus, Ohio. C. W. Woodworth, Berkeley, Cal. FOREIGN MEMBERS. T. D. A. Cockerell, Kingston, Jamaica. Eleanor A. Ormerod, Torrington House, St. Albans, England. A. 8S. Olliff, Sydney, Australia. Arthur E. Shipley, Cambridge, England. 74 EXTRACTS FROM CORRESPONDENCE. Fertilization of Yucca in Australia. Having read several of your letters relating to the pollinization of Yucca by Pro- nuba species exclusively, I understand why the plants have no fruit here where else they grow extremely well. However, either some of the Pronubas have been intro- duced here, of which I have no information, or else some native moth has adapted itself to the function, for on November 11, 1889, while on a visit to our Agricultural College at Roseworthy with the Field Naturalist Section of the Royal Society of South Australia, I noticed fruitsin abundance on a tree in the garden of the director, Professor Lowrie, to which I drew the attention of several of the party at the time and also afterwards mentioned the fact in the Royal Society. As my office duties prevented my making observations personally at a distant locality, nothing further bas been learned about the subject since. AsI thought the matter might interest you, I inclose the only fruit secured at the time. * * *—[J.G.O. Tepper, Curator of Insects, Somerset Place, Norwood, South Australia, May 11, 1890. ReEpty.—I am very much obliged to you for your kindness in sending me the Yucca pod accompanying your favor of the 11th ultimo. * * * The Yucca pod showed no trace of Pronuba and the fertilization of the plant must be explained on the same ex- ceptional grounds on which I have already explained similar pollinization of Yucca in other countries where Pronuba can scarcely occur. The pod, though very much shriy- eled, shows it to belong to the aloifolia section of the genus, but without a know- ledge of theleaf and flower it would be risky to decide specifically. I shall be very much obliged to you if you can at some future time send a larger supply, since it frequently happens, even where Pronuba occurs, that the pods are free from its larva.— [June 16, 1890, ] A New Sawfly Enemy to Sweet Potatoes. I have sent you by to-day’s mail a box containing some flies and their eggs on some sweet potato leaves. Last year was the first time they made their appearance in my potato patch. They came the Ist of July and deposited their eggs on the leaves; when the eggs hatched these worms would eat the leaves to a comb. This con- tinued for about 4 weeks. The potatoes, wherever the fly was, did not make any yield at all. This year the fly made its appearance at the same time they did last year. Will you please tell me what kind of a fly they are, and whether they will do any serious damage ?—[George W. Stockley, Keller, Virginia, July 2, 1891. Repiy.—The insect which you send is entirely new as an enemy of the Sweet Po- tato. It is a sawfly known scientifically as Schizocerus privatus. Some 5 years ago another species of the same genus was discovered feeding upon Sweet Potato at Ocean Springs, Mississippi. You will find it described on page 44 of no. 2, vol. 1, of. INSECT Lirz. Should this insect become very abundant it can be readily killed by the appli- cation of Paris green in the proportion of one-fourth of a pound of the poison to forty gallons of water. It is hardly likely, however, that it will prove to be much of a pest.—[July 8, 1891. ] Injurious Insects of Utah. Utah is certainly a most unfavorable place to make observations in economic ento- mology, for there are neither grasshoppers nor crickets here this year. There is only one important insect enemy visible at the present season, viz, that Tent-caterpillar — which has been sent to you on several occasions from this Territory. I failed to see it in Salt Lake City, as well as near Mill Creek, which is in the center of the lower cultivated (i. e., irrigated) area of Utah. I saw it first at Park City at an altitude 75 of about 9,500 feet, near the snow line, feeding on a species of wild Crataegus. Of course there is no horticulture carried on at this altitude, but since we are in the upper part of the cultivated district (east of Utah Lake) we find this Clisiocampa about as numerous and destructive as Hyphantria cunea isin the worst years at Wash- ington. It is confined to the apple trees, and only when these are utterly defoliated does it attack the plum trees which are in the immediate vicinity, and then only such as have their branches interlocking with the apple. The caterpillars are now full- grown and develop a marked migratory instinct; ¢. e., very few web-up on the apple trees, but they descend and wander about, webbing up in fence corners, and more especially between the leaves of other bushes and trees, and by this habit they become injurious also to the gooseberries, currants, etc., because the webbed-up leaves of these are drying up. The species will no doubt have parasites, but I fail to find any insect enemies, since there are neither Calosomas nor large Heteroptera to be seen in the gardens. But there is a bacterial disease raging among the cater- pillars, and thousands may be seen clinging, dead, to the fences or tree trunks. The pear and cherry trees are absolutely free from this pest, nor did I succeed in finding here a single specimen on the few wild-growing bushes (there are no trees here). Not a single other orchard or field-crop pest seems to exist here, but in the gardens of Salt Lake City the Woolly Aphis, Schizoneura lanigera, has fairly established itself, doing great damage there, but apparently not yet distributed over the open country. The Cottony Maple Scale, Pulvinaria innumerabilis, is also at Salt Lake City on the box elder, Negundo aceroides, but not very abundant.—[E. A. Schwarz, American Fork, Utah, June 22, 1891. Reappearance of the Wheat Straw-worm in Kansas. I beg to inform you of the reappearance in damaging numbers of the ‘‘ Wheat Straw-worm,” your Jsosoma tritici. It is quite prevalent throughout central and northwestern Kansas and the damage in some counties will be very severe. In this (McPherson) county, I do not estimate the damage to exceed 5 per cent. They occur usually above the joint near the head, showing that the eggs were deposited late in the season. As a result, but little damage is done, owing to the practical ripening of the head at this time and before the larva has had time to develop.—[ W. Knaus, McPherson, Kans., June 18, 1891. RepLy.—Thorough thrashing ought to reduce the numbers of this insect consider- ably ; but if it does any great damage, we also have a remedy in our hands by sac- rificing the straw and burning it, as so few of the insects will be found in the stubble that this source of reinfection 1s very slight.—[ June 22, 1891.] Allorhina Injuring Oaks. It would be difficult at present to estimate the extent of injury done by the insects of which a specimen was sent you. They seem to increase in numbers, and their size and the hardness of their wing cases prevent the insectivorous birds from doing them much harm, though the jay birds appear to eat a few of them. The mocking birds, catbirds, etc., do not molest them. They bore into and extract the sap from the tender branches of the trees, and the leaves soon wither, the branch becomes dry, and either of its own weight or from the force of the wind, breaks and hangs down. The natural growth about the town consists principally of black and scrub or post oaks, and the insects seem to prefer the juices of the black oak, almost entirely neglecting the other variety. In feeding the insect confines itself, so far as I have been able to observe, to the tops of the trees, presumably because it finds there the new and consequently tender growth.—[Frank Triplett, Springfield, Mo., July 22, 1891. Notre.—The beetle referred to is Allorhina nitida.—Eds, 76 Ducks and the Colorado Potato Beetle; Additional Note. In inskcr Lire, vol. 11, No. 9-10, page 390, I find an article on Ducks and the Col- orado Potato Beetle. I wish to add a little experience of last year in my garden, where I had asmall patch of potatoes. In this patch my two ducks and one drake were © very partial and not one of the Philistines (bugs) could be found. We thought they had left for better clover feed, but on reading the article in INsecT Lire I think it _ is another proof of the duck’s usefulness in that field of labor or direction.—[John — Taylor, New Sharon, Me., July 14, 1891. Kerosene Emulsion Treatment for the Rose Chafer. Having another year’s experience with the Rose Chafer, I will relate it for the ben- efit of others. Last year, as I wrote you, I found shaking on stretchers saturated with crude petroleum the only effective remedy. This year I experimented with a preparation called sludgite, a combination of petroleum and soap. Found it of no avail. Then I prepared a lot of kerosene emulsion, 2 gallons of oil, 1 gallon of water, one-half pound common soap. First to test it I caught anumber of the bugs, dipped them in the emulsion and found that every one died in a few minutes. I tried dip- ping in the sludgite solution and found that it did not kill them. Then I diluted the emulsion, one part of emulsion to eight parts of water. Found by dipping it was just as effective in killing the bugs as the standard emulsion. I sprayed my vines and found it killed some and disturbed all. Thinking this might not be effective, I discontinued on grape vines, but found a lot of cherry trees and peach trees infested with them. I sprayed about twenty cherry trees from which hundreds of bugs could have been picked, and was so successful that after two sprayings not a bug could be found; neither did they trouble the trees, either peach or cherry, again. J am in- clined to think we may have an effective remedy in the emulsion, and I think it will be more effective when warmed.—[E. H. Wynkoop, Catskill, N. Y., July 31, 1891, The Strawberry Weevil on Blackberries. I inclose a few Curculionids that are proving quite destructive to the buds of blackberries (especially of the Wachusett variety) about here. I find nothing about any such pest 1n the literature of my own library. Can you give me the name or any references ?—[ George Dimmock, Canobie Lake, N. H., June 15, 1891. RepLy.—This is a species commonly known in collections as Anthonomus musculus and which I have treated in my report for 1885 under the caption of ‘‘ Strawberry Weevil.” You will find a somewhat elaborate article in this report on pages 276 to 282, while the species is illustrated on Plate 7 at Figs. 5 and 6.—[June 18, 1891. ] Predaceous Habit of Histeride. All of the authors which I have been able to consult upon the habits of Histeridz (Packard, Harris, Le Baron, and Horn) state that these insects live in excrements, in decayed animal or vegetable matter, beneath the bark of trees, in ants’ nests, and so on, but none of them even so much as hint at their predaceous habits. A few weeks ago I saw an adult Hister sexstriatus Lec. attack a nearly full-grown larva of Agrotis ypsilon Rott., seizing it with its jaws as a cat would a rat and holding on despite the attempts of the cut-worm to escape. This was late in the afternoon of a cloudy day. and as my time was limited, I placed both specimens in my cyanide bottle, where the unequal combat soon terminated.—[D. W. Coquillett, Los Angeles, Cal., June 8, 1891. 17 Imbricated Snout-beetle injuring Apple Trees. I mail you a little box of bugs which I found ia young apple trees; the largest ones |ate the young growth all off.—[H. J. Lamb, Stillwater, Payne County, Oklahoma, | June 5, 1591. | Repty.— * * * The beetle which is injuring the young growth of your apple trees is the so-called Imbricated Snout-beetle (Zpicwrus imbricatus). The breeding habits of this insect are not kuown, but your apple trees can probably be protected if the beetles are very numerous by spraying with Paris green or London purple in the proportion of 1 pound of the poison to 200 gallons of water.—[June 13, 1891. ] | A Longicorn Pine-borer injuring Shoes. We send a carton containing a bug and shoes which in our thirty years’ experience we ‘‘never saw the like.” You will see the tissue paper and hole in the box was evidently eaten by the bug. You will also notice the destruction to the shoes it has done. Please let us know what it is.—[ Winch Bros,, 150-156 Federal street, Bos- ton, Mass., May 17, 1891. REPLY.—The specimen is the common Longicorn Pine-borer (Monohammus confusor Kirby). It has probably hatched out from the pine wood of the shoebox and find- ing its way obstructed, it has tried to eat its way through, but has only succeeded in getting inside the box, neither pasteboard nor kid-skin being especially suited to its masticating powers.—[ May 20, 1891. ] Blister Beetles on Cabbage. An army of which these are specimens has possession of a large mature bed of cab- bages, which they have riddled, and a footstep is enough to make them hurriedly drop to the soil, which, from their numbers, ‘then resembles a vast colony on the move.—[Note made at Jacksonville, Florida, May 25, 1891. C. B. Bagster, Vine- land, N. J. REpLY.—The specimens are the Three-striped Blister-beetle (Hpicauta lemniscata Fab.), previously known to occur in potato fields. Cabbage is a new food-plant for this species. The European Leopard Moth injuring Maples. FIRST LETTER.—On the 25th of June, 1890, I wrote you for information concerning a borer which has been damaging my young maple trees. I send you herewith the shell of the pupa and the moth itself. Irefer you to vol. 111, No. 4 of INsecr Lire, page 161, which gives my letter and your views on the subject in the absence of the specimen I sent. This insect is doing great damage in my neighborhood.—[Thomas R. Clark, Riverside Park, New York, N. Y., July 6, 1891. Rep.Ly.—The insect is the so-called Leopard Moth (Zeuzera pyrina) introduced from Europe. It has now become firmly establishedin thiscountry. In Europe it attacks the Linden, Soap tree, Walnut, Elm, Apple, Pear, Mountain Ash, Chestnut, Birch, Alder, and a few other trees. The moths usually issue in June, and there is probably one generation annually. This insect will be a difficult one to fight if, as is so often the case, it increases in numbers more rapidly in America than in its native home. With your young maples you are advised to spray with London purple or Paris green in the proportion of one-fourth pound of the poison to 50 gallons of water, just at this time of the year, in order to poison such larvie as may be about hatching from the eggs and entering the twigs or trunks, Later in the season every branch which is observed to wilt should be pruned and burned with the contained larve.—([July 8, 1891.] 18 SECOND LETTER.—Since writing you I find that nearly all the maple trees in the streets of Astoria, Long Island, a suburb of this city, are filled on the under side of the branches with what look like little spots of white cotton wool about a quarter of an inch apart. They are so thickly lined with these that the branches on the under side look white. I find upon examination that these are the eggs of the moth, which, judging from one I have in my possession, must lay a mass of them in 24 hours. This being the first time I have noticed what I describe above and the first year that they have made their appearance in that section, I fear we are doomed to a great deal of trouble unless something can be used, not too costly, to destroy them.—[ Thomas R. Clark, Riverside Park, New York City, July 13, 1891. THIRD LETTER.—This year I have noticed a great number of the European Leopard Moth, the larvee of which attack the Maple of every variety, except the Rock Maple, in the upper part of the city. The larve generally enter the trunks of young trees about two inches from the ground, although the height varies in some instances. They seem to bore upward very rapidly, attacking the heart of the tree, and rendering it so weak that a strong breeze will break it off. This spring I have found in at least sixteen instances, within an area of 35 feet, the shell abandoned by the larve on its transformation into the moth state. The moths are large, and those confined lay large quantities of eggs in coils or ribbons, immediately upon emerging from the shell; they seem to exist without any suste- nance for a week or more in confinement. As this species is very new to this country I am watching the developments with interest, and will report later. The moths seem very tenacious of life, although sluggish. This insect, unless some effective plan of extermination is found, is going to prove very destructive to shade trees in this vicinity. Already I notice that the larv have developed to half the size of the moth, in the crotches of trees, covered by a very thin gauze or webbing only, so that the elements do not seem to affect them very much.—[ Frederic F. Culver, 80 Broadway, New York City, July 17, 1891. A Phycitid Moth attacking Pecan Buds. I have mailed you to-day a box containing some of the chrysalides from the wornis that attacked the pecan bud in the early spring, which may help to determine the kind. I would suggest that it may be what we call the ‘‘Careless Weed, worm.” Please let me hear from you as to what remedies to apply in early spring so that I could eradicate same.—[F. A. Swinden, Brownwood, Tex., June 17, 1891. REPLY.—I have bred the moth, and find that it is probably new to science. Ihave reared the same thing here in the District of Columbia from the twigs of hickory It is entirely different from the insect which is the parent of what you call ‘‘ Careless Weed worm,” and is probably a specificenemy of the hickory. Knowing the habits of this early generation only it will be impossible to suggest an efficacious remedy,— [June 26, 1891. ] A Corn Crambus in Delaware. I send you by this mail two specimens of the insects reared from the larvx that were working on corn. These are the first that have appeared in my breeding cages. The larv can seldom be found at this date in the corn fields. I have made a thor- ough search and have been able to obtain a very few specimens of the larve.—[M. H. Beckwith, Newark, Del., July 17, 1891. Repty.—The specimens which you send show that the species damaging corn is Crambus caliginosellus, an insect which does precisely the same damage at Benning, Maryland, a few miles from Washington. We wrote up this insect in 1886, and had figures made, but the account has never been published.—[July 22, 1891. ] 79 Treatment for the Horn Fly. * * * In reply to your question ‘‘What is being done by the people in your neighborhood in regard to the Horn Fly?” I have to say, hardly anything. Thereis. a spasmodic attempt being made to fight this pest, but nothing systematic. On our place we have several times thoroughly annointed our fattening cattle with a. mixture of axle grease, tar, and carbolic acid. This keeps the fly from worrying them: for several days. This week I had a mixture of fish oil, tar, and carbolic acid thor- oughly rubbed over our milk stock. The flow of milk has not been very much in- creased as yet. Heretofore their time has been taken up in fighting the flies, which made them so restless it was hard to milk them at all. Now they stand much better and, in fact, this mixture has been of great benefit. I shall have it renewed in a few days, and shall advise our people through our county papers to use this or some sim- ilar remedy. If you find out any other remedies for this pest, keep me posted. * * * —[J.S. Strayer, Port Republic, Va., June 26, 1891. A New Enemy to Currants I send you a bug which I find feeding on white and red currants. I have not been able to find it on any of the forest growth here and in 6 years have not seen onelike it. I presume it is not an abun dant insect.—[H. Stewart, Highlands, Macon County, North Carolina, June 10, 1891. Repty.—* * * The insect is the so-called Leaf-footed Plant-bug (Leptoglossus phyllopus). Itis found commonly throughout the South and, although its habits are normally predaceous, it has occasionally been noticed to pierce cotton bolls and the buds of different plants. It has not before been noticed, so far as I am aware, as an enemy of currants. If it is sufficiently abundant to do much damage I would advise you to spray with a dilute kerosene emulsion made according to the formula given on page 3 of Circular No. 1, second series.—[ June 22, 1891. ] A California Thrips on the Potato. I mail you to-day specimens of a Thrips that is very injurious to the leaves of potato plants in various portions of Los Angeles County. I find them only on the under side of the leaves, and when numerous they cause the part of the leaf which they at- tack to wither and finally to die. I saw one field of about 100 acres of potatoes of which a large percentage of the plants had been seriously injured by these pests. I alsofound them in large numbers on Onion, and this species may prove to be the same as the one I sent you specimens of from onions last year. Besides potatoes and onions I also found them in large numbers on a plant commonly known as ‘‘Tumble- weed ;” on this they were even more numerous than on the Potato. I would be glad to receive the name of this Thrips and to learn whether or not it is an introduced species. Iam now carrying on a series of experiments against it with Paris green and whale-oil soap and will report results.—[D. W. Coquillett, Los Angeles, Cal., June 8, 1891. RepLty.— * * * This is the same species which you sent last year upon onion, and is a new species of the true genus Thrips.—[June 17, 1891. ] Rocky Mountain Locust in North Dakota. FIRsT LETTER.—I send you by mail afew specimens of an insect that has made its appearance here in some spots in great numbers. We believe it to be the Rocky Mountain Locust. It was first noticed a week ago. They seem to have been hatched on stubble land that was not plowed. Their ravages have so far been confined to grain bordering on such land. At night they leave the grain and roost on the ends of prairie grass near by. Whenever they walk or jump it is towards the south. 80 They are reported from three neighborhoods.—[ J. Dexter Peirce, Larimore, N. Dak., June 20, 1891. Repty.— * * * The insect is undoubtedly the Rocky Mountain Locust, Calop- — tenus spretus. Please send full particulars concerning the extent of country over which the insect occurs at present, and as toits numbers. Strenuous efforts should | be made to stamp it out, and the best means to accomplish this are given in Bulletin No. 25 of this division. * * * [June 27, 1891.] SECOND LETTER.—The locust, Caloptenus spretus, has made its appearance upon & strip of country about 10 or 15 miles wide, extending from Larimore, Grand Forks County, to the boundary line, and, I hear, north of the line. They appear almost entirely on unplowed stubble. Where they are thickest (judging by the pans) there are about two bushels on each acre, ranging from one-third grown to little ones. They do not cover all the country, but are in patches here and there. There has been a feeble effort to fight them with pans containing tar or kerosene. and water. The latter works best. The State is about to give up the fight, as there are no funds available. Funds and men are needed. to fight them. People are very apathetic, especially outside the district already invaded. ~*~ * * Can the Gov- ernment do anything for us? The States to the south are liable to be invaded if they are not stopped here. There are no funds available here, and the farmers are too poor to fight them themselves unless material is furnished them.—[J. Dexter Peirce, Lari- more, N. Dak., July 3, 1891. ] [Norr.—Owing to the fact that no appropriation was available to the authorities — of the Department of Agriculture out of which materials for fighting the pest could be supplied, Mr. Peirce’s request could not be granted. It was clearly a case for the — State to take hold of, and two years ago Minnesota met similar conditions by a special appropriation, and by hard work and the expenditure of $3,500 the invasion of this insect was completely stamped out. ] Habits of Mantispa. I send by to-day’s mail a specimen for identification. I showed it to Prof. G. W. Dunn, of Oakland, Cal., and to Dr. Lorenzo Yates and Prof. H. C. Ford, both of this city, neither of whom could classify it. I shall feel greatly obliged if you will give me its class and name.—[T. N. Snow, Santa Barbara, Cal., June 12, 1891. RepLty.— * * * Itis a species of the Neuropterous genus Mantispa, a-remark- able genus of which only three or four species are known in this country. So far asI know this one has not been specifically described. These insects are remarkable not only for their curious figure, which somewhat resembles that of the ‘‘ Rear-Horse ” or ‘‘ Praying Mantis” of the order Orthoptera, but also from their habits, as their larve are parasitic in the egg-sacs of spiders. The eggs of the only species which has been carefully studied (a European form) are rose-red in color and are fastened upon stalks. They are laid in July and the larve issue 21 days later. They pass the winter without food and the following spring find their way into the nests of certain spiders, where they feed upon the young. The Mantispa larva undergoes two changes of form and in about a month changes to pupa, the adult issuing in time to lay the eggs the following July.—[ June 23, 1891. ] A Correction. In INsEcT L1Fx, vol. II, page 260, there is a note entitled ‘‘ North European Dragon Flies,” dealing with Dr. Trybom’s paper ‘‘ Odonater insamlade under Svenska expe- ditionen till Jenisej, 1876,” and stating that these species were collected in ‘ North Sweden.” But the Yenisey River is in Siberia, and Siberia is not in Sweden nor in — Europe at all. It is desirable that this curious mistake should be corrected. [E, Bergroth, Tammerfors, Finland. ] . f 81 GENERAL NOTES. LEAD-BORING INSECTS. We notice in the Scientific American of June 13, 1891, an item quoted from the Gesundheit’s Ingenieur of January 15, 1891, in which K. Hart- mann relates a case of a lead pipe “ cut through by an insect that was actually found with its head in the hole pierced by it. A workman was called to repair a defective pipe which had been injured on a previous occasion, as was reported, by a ‘nail hole’ occurring in a soldered joint. This time the worm (a ‘ wood wasp’) causing the mischief was found in situ. The hole on the exterior of the pipe was of a rounded form, about one-quarter of an inch long by one-eighth inch wide, and the penetration was through the entire thickness —— Fic. 1.— Minié of the metal.” ball gnawed A similar instance of an insect boring through metal was by wood -bor- reported by Mr. Charles R. Dodge in Field and Forest for '™& "V% nt size (after C. June, 1877, p. 217. He says: R. Dodge). We recently received a singular specimen of insect injury in the shape of a “minié” ball which had been gnawed through by a wood-boring larva. ‘The ball had been fired into a red oak tree, probably during the war, and when split out of the log,a few days ago, was found in the track of a full grown larva, probably of an Ortho- soma, the burrow leading directly through the bullet. This the grub had evidently struck at its concave end, boring two-thirds its length and coming out at one side, somewhat below the apex. The larva was found in the burrow, alive, only a short distance above the bullet, the latter nearly retaining its normal shape, the end only having been slightly flattened. The specimen was found by Dr. W. O. Eversfield near the Agricultural College, Maryland, and both bullet and larva are preserved together. We publish an illustration of the minié ball described above, now preserved in the National Museum, showing the burrow of the larva from the concave end of the bullet upward and outward. DAMAGE TO TURNIP AND SWEDE CROPS IN EASTERN BRITAIN. Bell’s Messenger of July 27 contains an account of the damage which is being done the present season on the east coast of Britain to the tur- nip and swede crops by the caterpillar of the Diamond-back Moth (Plutella cruciferarum), known in this country as the Cabbage Plutella. Miss Ormerod is said to have issued a leaflet on the subject and to have distributed it widely through the affected region. The principal dis- tricts affected are about Lowestoft, in Norfolk; Holbeach, in Lincoln- shire, and several localities in Yorkshire and Northumberland, Berwick, the Lothians, Fife, and Forfar. 7911—No, 1——6 ; 82 LOCUSTS IN THE VILAYET OF ALEPPO, SYRIA. The following consular dispatch from Mr. E. Bissinger, United States consul at Beirut, transmitted by the Department of State to the Secre- tary of Agriculture, possesses considerable interest as indicating still further the prevalence of locusts all over the locust areas of the world during 1890 and 1891: The province of Aleppo has not only been infested with the cholera, but invaded by locusts as well, as will be observed from the following brief report, based upon information from United States Consular Agent F. Poche, in Aleppo, which, in the abstract, is as follows: The spring rains failed us this year in the vilayet of Aleppo, and in the mutessar_ rifiate of ‘‘ Deir-el-Zor,” and as the locusts did not find sufficient nourishment they invaded wheat, bariey, cotton and sesame fields, sparing neither; nor did meadows, trees, or vegetable gardens escape these voracious creatures. In one word, there is desolation everywhere. Cotton and sesame fields are almost entirely destroyed, while wheat will barely yield one-half, and barley scarcely a third of the average yearly crops. The evil could, in all probability, have been prevented, to a certain extent at least, had the measures usually adopted, been employed in time. These consist of— I. The plowing of the ground about the middle of July in those localities where the locusts are known to have deposited their eggs. II. The buying up, beginning of this period to the time of their hatching, of all the eggs deposited. II. Collecting and burying the locusts; this to be done from the time of hatching until able to fly. By honestly and intelligently employing the funds designated for this purpose, the gravity of the situation might have been greatly diminished, even if the evil could not have been entirely abated; as itis, the £2,000, voted by the State, and the £3,000, collected from the people, have been lost to the Treasury and to the people, as no efforts were made until after the locusts were able to fly and had ravaged the country. ANOTHER GOVERNMENT ENTOMOLOGIST APPOINTED. Information has reached us of the appointment of our valued corre- spondent, Mr. A. Sidney Olliff, late assistant in the museum at Sydney, to the newly instituted office of entomologist in the Department of Ag- riculture of New South Wales. His duties will consist largely in the investigation of insects affecting fruits and crops, and in publishing, for the benefit of the agriculturist, the results of his studies. A CURIOUS BIT OF ENTOMOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION. The time-honored joke of the verdict of the English railway guard concerning the classification of the ‘“’edge-’og as a hinsect” is paral- leled by an item from Bell’s Messenger, (London, July 27, 1891), in which it is stated that a collection of butterflies, consigned to a high legal official in Duisburg, Germany, was detained at the custom-house. Upon inquiry the fact was elicited that the customs officials had come to the conclusion that, as butterflies have wings, they must be classed as poultry, and so be subjected to the same duty. It was only after ; a 83 much time and patience had been expended on the part of the ento- mologist that the officials concluded that the butterflies came under the domain of science and art and were not subject to duty. A CRITICISM OF CIRCULAR NO. 1 OF THIS DIVISION. In the Scientific American of July 25, Mr. N. W. Motheral, of Han- ford, Cal., criticises the resin, caustic soda, and fish-oil wash given upon page 4 of circular No. 1 of this division as a remedy against the San José scale (Aspidiotus perniciosus), stating that it is not only compara- tively worthless but harmful to the tree. In recommending this wash we distinctly stated that it should only be applied in winter or during the dormant period, and that during the growing period it will cause the loss of foliage and fruit. As a substitute, Mr. Motheral recommends a mixture of lime and sulphur diluted with water. This mixture, while it will probably destroy the young lice during their hatching period, will, in our estimation, have no effect upon theinsects after the scale is formed, while the resin wash absolutely prevents hatching. THE HOST PLANTS OF NORTH AMERICAN APHIDID/:. Another new worker comes forward in the person of Mr. T. A. Wil- liams, of South Dakota, who has just published, as special bulletin No. 1 from the Department of Entomology of the University of Nebraska, a tolerably complete list of the food-plants of the Aphidide of North America. The list seems full and will undoubtedly be of considerable value. We greatly regret, however, that the author has not made it bibliographical, at least to the extent of indicating the original descrip- tions of the species mentioned, for to use it in its present shape re- quires a thorough knowledge of the literature of the group. A NEW RADISH ENEMY IN CALIFORNIA. We have received from Dr. James H. Lowe, Knight’s Ferry, Cal., the eggs and newly hatched young of a bug which he found upon the leaves of Radish, and which is quite probably Murgantia munda. NORTH AMERIOAN SPECIES OF TRYPOXYLON. We have received a valuable paper on the North American species of the Digger Wasps of the genus Trypoxylon, by Mr. William J. Fox, of Philadelphia. He finds twenty species in this genus, and carefully tabulates them, following his table with full descriptions of each species. The work is evidently done with such care that it encourages us in the hope that we have here a student who will eventually bring the fos- sorial Hymenoptera into such a condition that these interesting insects can be readily determined by collectors. 84 DESTROYING THE ROSE CHAFER. Mrs. George Chrisman, of Rockingham County, Va., in a letter to the Country Gentleman of July 2, 1891, proposes a novel course to be fol- lowed under certain circumstances in fighting this noted pest. She has observed that during the first day of their appearance they follow a stream or damp ground of some sort, never flying high, and can be tracked to the hatching ground in that way. She drains the hatching grounds and applies salt heavily as a fertilizer. On the second day, ac- cording to her observations, they seem to be stronger, and leave the water course, flying higher, when it is difficult to track them. The cir- cumstances in her locality seem to be peculiar, but where similar sur- roundings are found her plan is a good one. QUASSIA FOR THE HOP APHIS. Washington and Oregon hop-growers are again trying some of the old remedies against the Hop Aphis. Among these a strong decoction of quassia chips, diluted at the rate of one hundred gallons of water to “a few gallons” of the decoction, was recently recommended through the columns of a California journal. Careful experiments made in the New York hop yards some years ago (see Report of the Entomologist, 1888) showed that while a similar wash kills the lice when they are reached, it will not spread like an oily mixture, and it is therefore greatly inferior to a well prepared kerosene emulsion. SILK NESTS OF MEXICAN SOCIAL LARV 2. In reference to the note on pages 482-483 of vol. 111, with the above heading, Mr. S. H. Scudder has kindly referred us to his remarks on page 1,038 of his “‘ Butterflies of New England,” in which, in discussing the general characteristics of the sub-family Pierinz, he refers to species in the subfamily which are social, including Aporia crategi, a European caterpillar, which lives in company “ beneath a web spread over the haw- thorn bushes.” He refers to the Mexican species as Hucheira socialis, which is found at an elevation of 3,200 metres above the sea, ‘ where the nest, as described by Humboldt and Westwood, is 8 inches long, and made of tough layers of parchment-like silk, which Humboldt says can be used as writing paper, and indeed was used as such by the early Spanish fathers. It is suspended from a tree, and has a hole in the bot- tom for the entrance and exit of the caterpillars. Within this sac they undergo their transformations, and, being thus protected, the chrysalids are attached to the inner walls by their hinder extremity only, having no need of the supporting girth that is otherwise invariably used throughout this family.” In reference to the same item, our esteemed correspondent, Dr. Alfred Dugés, of Guanajuato, Mexico, has sent us the following: In Insect Lire, vol. 1, Nos. 11 and 12. p. 483, I find the description of a large cocoon found on the Madrono (Arbutus sp.?), and I notice that it is not known to what 85 Lepidopteron to attribute it. We have at Guanajuato (Santa Rosa mountains) ex- actly similar cocoons on the Madreno. These are the nests of Lucheira socialis Westw., as I have been able to assure myself. I have only one specimen of this butterfly, of which I have been able to breed neither larva nor pupa; but in the month of Decem- ber many of these cocoons are brought to Guanajuato as curiosities only, tor they serve no useful purpose, though it is possible to write perfectly well on their surface. I have felt impelled to give you these details, in order to clear up the obscure point of the question. A STRANGE STORY. Under the caption ‘“ Millions of Fire-flies,” the Philadelphia Times publishes a strange story, which we reproduce herewith in its entirety. Equally startling accounts are of constant occurrence in our daily papers, some of them true and many otherwise. Of the former, several have received mention in INSECT LIFE, notably in vol. 111 (p. 477), where several cases are cited of insects occurring in such swarms as to cause temporary stoppage of whole railway trains. The so-called “ fire-flies” are not true flies, but beetles of the family Lampyride. They are not known to migrate, andsuch a swarm as here reported and the consequent illumination seem hardly credible. To cause such an illumination not millions but billions of the beetles would be required. Yet the congregation of these insects in such exceptional numbers is not impossible, and we would be glad of any verification of this report from any of the readers of INSECT LIFE: DUNBAR, August 12. This town was a night or two ago treated to a most remarkable and beautiful spectacle. Shortly after dusk the people were surprised and puzzled to behold what appeared to be a cloud of light come sweeping up from the woods lying back of the town, but on reaching the streets it was seen that the light was occasioned by an immense swarm of fire-flies. This swarm, numbering millions, dispersed itself through the village, illuminating everything with a light more golden than that of day, and warmer than the moon’s cold beams. People recognized each other without difficulty, and the print of a newspaper was to be read with ease. The houses were filled with the darting, flashing insects, which seemed to be panic-stricken from some mysterious cause. Lamps were extin- guished by the swarms, and carpets ruined by them as they were crushed by the foot, while delicate plants and flower beds were destroyed by the weight of the clustering flies. ; It took several hours for the swarm to pass through the town, but it slowly disap- peared in the direction of the river, lighting the fields as it went, alarming the country people as it approached and arousing the cattle and poultry, which seemed to mistake it for dawn. Nothing being seen of it next day, and no report of its being seen elsewhere having been received, it is believed that it gradually dispersed itself over the marshes. Where the insects came from is also a matter of conjecture, as well as the reason of the sudden invasion. On the morning after their visit they were found in drifts under the hedges and fences, and against the sides of the houses, while quantities of provisions left exposed were destroyed by their presence. WAS HE CRAZED BY MOSQUITOES OR BY HEAT? In the last issue of INSECT LIFE (vol. 11, p. 487) a case was cited of a boy having become insane from destroying caterpillars. The North 86 American, of Philadelphia, of August 13, 1891, instances the following similar case, insanity occurring, it was believed, from the poisonous bites of mosquitoes: ELIZABETH, N. J., August 13. Alexander Gordon, a fancy goods dealer here, became a raving maniac to-day from loss of sleep caused by the torture he endured from mosquito bites, combined with the intense heat. He ran through the streets with nothing on but his drawers, and when finally captured by the police, he tore off the only garment he had on, and it was necessary to wrap a rubber blanket around him to get him to the county jail, where he had to be put in a strait-jacket. It is said his blood had been poisoned by New Jersey’s venomous pests. THE TRUE MALE OF POCOTA GRANDIS. In his synopsis of the North American Syrphide Dr. Williston de- seribes this large and handsome Syrphid fly from a single specimen from the State of Washington which is now in the collection of the U.S. National Museum. By a clerical or proof-reader’s error, the sex of the type is stated in the synopsis to be male. Prof. O. S. Westcott, how- ever, last May, sent us the true male, which he collected on Vancouver Island the summer before. The male has the contiguous eyes found in allied species and genera, but the most remarkable thing about it is a long curved spine at the base of the middle femora, and which is one- third the length of the femur itself; otherwise this sex does not differ from the female. Professor Westcott captured the specimens on an enormous elder bush. © Vol. IV, Nos. 3 and 4.] ENSE Gb TRE. Tiree Neveniier 1891. SPECIAL NOTES. Entomological Work at the Iowa Experiment Station.*—This Bulletin con- tains, as its fifth article, reports of the entomological work of Herbert Osborn and H. A. Gossard. The subtitles are: The Clover-seed Cater- pillar (Grapholitha interstinctana Clem.), Experiments with the Hopper- dozer for Grass Leaf-hoppers, Kerosene emulsion for Plant-lice, Note on Grasshoppers, The Flavescent Clover-weevil (Sitones flavescens All.), and the Wheat Bulb-worm (Meromyza americana). As the first of these articles appeared in the last number of INSECT LIFE in the Proceedings of the Association of Economic Entomologists, it will not require further mention. The second describes a home-made hopperdozer and the re- sults of its use on the campus of the lowa Agricultural College. Many grass leaf-hoppers were captured, and multitudes of the Clover Mite (Bryobia pratensis) were also caught. The hay crop from the treated portion of the campus was compared with that taken from an untreated portion of the same size, with a result of 34 per cent in favor of the treated plat. The authors conclude that the yield of hay or pasture land may be increased from one-fourth to one-third at a cost not exceed- ing 10 cents per acre, by the use of the hopper-dozer. The conclusion arrived at from experiments with kerosene emulsion for plant lice -is, that this substance is a perfect remedy against these insects, if the application is thoroughly made, and that it need not be repeated to give certain results. The note on grasshoppers comprehends a brief sum- mary of the outbreaks of the season and a few paragraphs upon the ordinary remedies. The most interesting note in the bulletin is that announcing the appearance of Sitones flavescens in injurious numbers upon clover in Iowa. This weevil is imported from Europe, and while it has been found to be abundant in clover fields in the Eastern States during the past few years, its occurrence as far west as Lowa is unwel- come news. The Wheat Bulb-worm has been found at Ames in mod- erate numbers, but it is preyed upon abundantly by Coelinius, its Brac- onid parasite, and injurious multiplication is not feared. *Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station, Bulletin No. 14, Des Moines, August, 1891. 87 88 Annual Report of the Entomologist of the New Jersey Experiment Station.— Prof. J. B. Smith’s Annual Report as Entomologist of the Agricultural Experiment Station of New Jersey has just been published as an au- thor’s extra from the Annual Report of the Station for 1890. The re- port includes a reconsideration of the different topics which have been treated in the bulletins published from time to time during the year, together with a few additional notes on insects of less importance than those treated in the bulletins. A most interesting appendix to this re- port is a series of chemical tests, mainly with London purple, Paris green, and white arsenic, made by the chemist of the New Jersey Sta- tion. These tests were undertaken with a view of indicating the exact proportions of lime and water to be added to the arsenical mixtures to prevent the burning of the foliage of the plants treated, and were sug- gested by certain statements made by Mr. Gillette, of the Colorado Sta- tion. It was found that the object of adding the lime water was to take up the soluble arsenic and unite with it in the form of normal calcium arsenite, which is insoluble in water. The amount of arsenious oxide in London purple varies considerably in different samples, but for ordi- nary use it is recommended that a mixture of one pound of London pur- ple to three-fourths of a pound of fresh lime be thoroughly mixed in one gallon of hot water and allowed to digest about two hours. If the water van be conveniently kept hot during the entire time, it will be advisable to do so. Water can then be added in sufficient quantities to bring it to the desired strength, and it will be found that, with the average sample of the purple, the soluble arsenic has been taken up by the lime. In Paris green there is a very small amount of soluble arsenic—in one sample only 0.4 per cent was found. This small quantity can be readily rendered insoluble by the addition of a small quantity of lime when mixing. With white arsenic, a substance which we have only been able to use with cold water, without injury to the trees, experiments show that, by the addition of lime in the proportion of 1.5 parts by weight to 1 part of the arsenious oxide, all of the soluble arsenie will be made insoluble. Bacterial Disease of the Chinch Bug.— We have just received from Prof. S. A. Forbes, State entomologist of Illinois, a copy of his paper entitled, “On a Bacterial Insect Disease,” reprinted from the September num- ber of the North American Practitioner. The disease, Micrococcus in- sectorum Burrill, is confined to a single portion of the digestive tract, which is fully described. The closing remarks, particularly the para- graph bearing upon the economic value of the disease, are specially interesting and conform so closely to our own views in the matter, and have such an important bearing on Prof. Snow’s work, that we quote them entire: Concerning the utilization of artificial cultures of Microccocus for a propagation of this disease among insects not affected, I am at present able to say but little, as I have not yet succeeded, in either season when it was common, in finding lots of 89 chinch bugs sufficiently free from it to make them snitable subjects for experi- mental attempts at its transfer. It will be readily understood by any one that it is useless to test the utility of artificial cultures of the disease germs by applying them to insects which are already affected by the disease in question. The first step of any really scientific investigation of the economics of this matter is to determine positively the absence of the disease in the lots of insects to be used in the experi- ments. Every lot of chinch bugs thus far obtained by me from central, south cen- tral, and northern Illinois during the months of July and August of this year gave evidence, under critical study, of the presence of this microbe in the eccca of a larger or smaller percentage of pupie and imagos. My previous observations—less carefully made, however, than my recent ones—have been to the general effect that hibernating chinch bugs and young preceding the so-called pupa state are little liable to the spontaneous occurrence of the intestinal trouble, and I consequently do not despair of finding, before the present season is over, opportunity for experiments which will determine beyond question the economic value of this chinch bug cholera. In comparing this with similar human diseases we must take account of the poverty of the circulatory fluid of the chinch bug and the simplicity of its cireula- tory apparatus, which forbid the marked development of any of their phenomena of fever or inflammation. Indeed, it seems to me that insect diseases generally are characterized by the absence of a vigorous physiological reaction which their rela- tively low structure, nervous and circulatory, makes impossible. The features of this disease, for example, I think may be wholly accounted for, consistently with the physiology of the insect, as results of the simple destruction of the epithelium of the ceeca and the consequent suppression of the functions of those organs, combined with the toxic eftects of the products of bacterial action. Is it not quite possible that the student of pathology may find in the study of the diseases of those lower forms of life, experiments prepared for him by Nature which it would be quite impossible for him to imitate on animals of more complicated sensi- tive and sympathetic organization; and that he may thus sometimes simplify a problem whose complexity must otherwise prevent its solution ? Injurious Insects of New South Wales.—Since we last referred to the entomological matter in the Agricultural Gazette of New South Wales, we have received parts 4, 5, and 6 of volume u. Mr. Olliff has, in part 4, an interesting article on the Fig Leat Beetle (Galerucella semipullata), a species which feeds in all stages on the young shoots and foliage of wild and cultivated figs. Figures of all stages are given, as well as a detailed account of the life history. Spraying with Paris green is ree- ommended as aremedy. In part 5 the same author treats of a Tachinid parasite of the Plague Locust, figuring it in all stages, and giving a technical description by Mr. F. A. Skuse under the name Masicera pachytili. This parasite has appeared in great numbers, and in one locality from 60 to 70 per cent of the grasshoppers were affected by it. He also makes some mention in the same number of a species of Chermes on Pine, the Oyster-shell Bark-louse of the Apple, and the Orange Rust- mite. In part 6, Mr. Olliff publishes an account of the Pine Case-moth, Oiketicus huebneri, with a full-page plate illustrating its transformations. It is closely related to the Bag Worm of the United States, and has 90 proved a serious pest to the Pine in New South Wales. He also men- tions the fact that one of the walking-stick insects, known as Podacan- thus wilkinsoni, has been damaging Eucalyptus trees in the vicinity of Walcha, New England, New South Wales. The same number contains a description of Dactylopius herbicola, a new scale insect infesting the stems of grass near Penrith, New South Wales, by Mr. W. M. Maskell. Economic Entomology in Mississippi.*—In Bulletin No. 14, of the Mis- sissippi Station, received September 24, Mr. H. E. Weed treats of the Screw Worm, the Pea and Bean Weevils, the Striped Cucumber-beetle, the Peach-tree Borer, the Ox Warble Fly, the Plum Curculio, the Cod- ling Moth, insecticides, and spraying machinery. The Screw Worm article is a thorough and careful summary of the habits of the insect, drawn up from personal observation. The best remedy is said to de- pend upon the condition of the wound. Preference is given to chloro- form in a fresh case, and to carbolie acid in older cases. In treating of remedies for the Pea and Bean weevils we notice that Mr. Weed adopts the plan suggested by Prof. A. J. Cook, of inserting a gas pipe to the bottom of the quarantine bin in order to send the carbon bisulphide to the bottom of the mass of peas. This, as we have elsewhere stated, involves an erroneous principle, and we have recommended that the bisulphide be placed in shallow vessels on the top of the weevil-infested mass, as the vapor is heavier than air and falls rather than rises. The peas, beans, or grain will be more thoroughly permeated in this way. The other articles are mainly compiled. ¥ A Bulletin on Plant-lice, from Wyoming.ti—Mr. F. J. Niswander, the recently appointed entomologist of the Wyoming Experiment Station, has published a short bulletin on the subject of Plant-lice, which we notice as the first entomological publication from this State. The bul- letin gives the habits of Plant-lice in a general summary, but mentions particularly the species occurring upon Cottonwood, Pemphigus populi- monilis, and Chaitophorus viminalis. A number of the natural enemies are mentioned, and the kerosene emulsion (Cook formula) is recom- mended as a remedy, whether or not from the author’s experience does not appear. * Mississippi Agricultural Experiment Station, Bulletin No. 14, Injurious Insects. Howard Evarts Weed, Entomologist, Agricultural College, Mississippi, March, 1891. +t Wyoming Experiment Station, Bulletin No. 2. Plant-lice. Laramie, August, 1891. a The Wheat Midge in Ohio.*—In a recent bulletin of the Ohio Agricul- tural Experiment Station our agent, Mr. F. M. Webster, treats of the Wheat Midge, and brings together all of the earlier references to the appearance, spread, and depredations of this species within the State of Ohio. He republishes Fitch’s figures of the insect and summarizes the life history, recommending as the only thoroughly practical pre- ventive the deep plowing of the wheat stubble in the fall, thereby covering the insects so deep in the earth that they are unable to reach the surface in the spring. This should be done as soon as possible after harvest. The burning of the stubble before plowing is also recom- mended, and a rotation of crops is said to add to the efficacy of the plowing. The author has found larve, which he thinks belong to this species, under the sheaths of young plants. He has also reared the adults from the heads of, rye in July and from volunteer wheat from September 1 to November 3. Injurious Insects in Queensland.— We have just received Bulletin No. 10 of the Department of Agriculture of Queensland, which is a report of several agricultural conferences held in Queensland during 1891. One of the papers published in this bulletin is an abstract of an address given by Prof. E. M. Shelton, who recently went out from this country to take a position in Queensland. His address dealt with the subject of insect pests, and was an admirable summary of some of the general facts connected with economic entomology. He spoke particularly of the arsenical sprays and the use of kerosene emulsion, and exhibited a spray pump and cyclone nozzle, showing the character of the spray. He recommended the bisulphide of carbon for grain weevils, and an- nounced the fact that he was experimenting with kainit as a fertilizer and as a remedy for underground insects. His remarks were received with much interest, and the agriculturists of Queensland are evidently very much alive to the necessity for work against injurious insects. A Bulletin from New Mexico.t—Mr. Townsend treats, in his first bulle- tin as entomologist of the New Mexico Agricultural College Experi- ment Station, of some of the insects injurious to fruits in that Territory. The insects treated are the Grape Leaf-hopper, the Grapevine Flea- beetle, The Codling Moth, the Oyster-shell Bark-louse, the Woolly Root 5, September 1, 1891. Article vi11, The Wheat Midge, Diplosis tritici, by F. M. Web- ster, Consulting Entomologist. t+tNew Mexico Agricultural College Experiment Station. Bulletin No. 3.