252 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



nigrosin and saffronin often gives very pretty results. Care should be 

 exercised not to leave the objects in the saffronin too long, as it is apt 

 to result in a uniform and too intense colour, which is hard to get rid of. 

 Haematoxylin gave very poor results, and he does not look on it with 

 favour. Eosin is excellent where only a slight stain is desired, and has 

 given some beautiful results. The use of such methods in studies admit- 

 ting of them will solve many problems that are still obscure. 



Mr. Osborn commented on the importance of such methods and en- 

 dorsed Mr. Smith's suggestion as to their desirability. 



Mr. Fletcher then gave some 



NOTES OF THE YEAR IN CANADA. 



Apple pests had been more abundant than usual. Of these the Eye- 

 spot bud-moth had been most often complained of, webbing up the flowers 

 and young foliage and boring down the flowering spurs. At the same 

 time the larvte of Teras minuta and Caccecia rosaceana occurred also in 

 injurious numbers in many localities. Canker-worms had done con- 

 siderable damage in some localities. Paris green had been successfully 

 used for all the above. The canker-worm had attacked the Ash-leaved 

 maples (Acer Negundo) in the streets of Winnipeg and at Brandon, Man. 

 Cut-worms were not very abundant, but the larvae of Agrotis ochreogaster 

 or A. turris (both forms having been bred from the same larvae), were 

 destructive to almost all kinds of vegetation up to the middle of July. 

 A feature of the year had been the enormous numbers of all kinds of 

 plant bugs. Two of his most interesting observations were the breeding 

 of a small weevil from oats which had been identified by Mr. Schwarz as 

 Macrops porcelhis. He had also bred it from the young stems of Pani- 

 cum Crus-galli, and had succeeded in breeding one parasite. It bores in 

 the stem just above the root. An account was also given of a serious 

 outbreak of an imported saw-fly, Fenusa melanopoda, which for three years 

 had entirely spoilt the appearance of the European alders upon the 

 grounds of the Experimental Farm at Ottawa. The native species grow- 

 ing near these trees was not injured. There are two broods in the year, 

 perfect flies appearing in June and July and September. Belated larvae 

 had been found in the leaves as late as Oct. 19th. The larvse are leaf- 

 miners, and there are sometimes 15 or 20 mines in a leaf. The mines 

 are at first separate, but after a time run together, and the larvae all live 

 together, frequently consuming nearly the whole of the parenchyma of 



