INTRODUCTION 



The present Bulletin lias been prepared in response to frequent sug- 

 gestions from those having occasion to use the nine Annual Eeports on 

 the Insects of Missouri, made by me, as State Entomologist, to the State 

 Board of Agriculture, during the years 1868 to 1877, inclusive. These 

 Eeports contain a good deal of matter aneut the Cotton Worm, the Chinch 

 Bug, the Eocky Mountain Locust, and other insects which the Commis- 

 sion has studied, and were published, as required by law, in the Annual 

 Eeports of said State Board of Agriculture for the years mentioned. 

 That method of publication was always regretted by myself and by 

 many others, inasmuch as the reports of the Board were generally vol- 

 umes of such bulk as to delay publication and render mailing expensive. 

 By virtue of the fact that they were distributed only to members of the 

 State legislature and to State societies, access to them by persons out- 

 side the State of Missouri was extremely difficult ; while the State print- 

 ing and press-work were, as a rule, of a very unsatisfactory character. 

 To avoid some of these difficulties it was my habit to have about 300 

 separate copies of the entomological portion printed on better paper, at 

 my own expense, for distribution to correspondents both at home and 

 abroad, and it is through these, principally, that the Eeports have been 

 accessible outside the State. 



The demand for the Eeports and the manner in which they have been 

 used and commended by subsequent writers can but be gratifying to the 

 author, who feels that whatever of commendation they deserve is due to 

 the fact that they embody results of original investigation. They contain 

 some matter that, with present light, he would expunge, and the earlier 

 volumes, more particularly, contain imperfections which no one appre- 

 ciates more fully than himself. Many of these are attributable to isola- 

 tion from other working entomologists at the time, as well as to the almost 

 absolute dearth of entomological works of reference in any of the libra- 

 ries of Saint Louis. 



The general plan of the Eeports, which were addressed to the intelli- 



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