210 THE CANADIAN KNTOMOLOGIST. 



Prof. J. A. Lintner says (2nd Annual Report N'. V. State Ent., page 

 /jOJthat, previous to its appearance in St. Lawrence county in 1882, the 

 only recorded occurrence of this insect in New York State is that men- 

 tioned by Dr. Fitch {2nd ^Report, 28j6,p. 287). From this it appears 

 that it has not been recorded, if indeed it occurs generally in this State. 

 Its early introduction at this locality is only natural, considering the 

 immense grain traffic which yearly passes through this city direct from 

 the infected States of the West, on its way to the seaboard ; yet it does 

 seem strange that its first appearance in sufficient numbers to attract 

 general attention should have been in Northern New York, quite aside 

 from any of the main lines of transportation, unless, as Prof Riley sug- 

 gests (Science, vol. II., p. 621), it be a native species, which, through an 

 unusual series of favoring circumstances, has increased enormously in 

 certain localities. That it has not been reported as an injurious insect in 

 this locality seems to me no proof that it has not been injurious. To be 

 sure, it has not appeared in such overwhelming numbers as to force itself 

 upon public notice as in other places, but from my own observations I 

 think that no inconsiderable part of the injury to hay fields charged to the 

 dry weather is in reality the work of this insect, or rather the combined 

 effect of the two. For example, the hay field at Lancaster mentioned 

 above, which last year yielded an abundant crop, is literally ruined and 

 will have to be plowed under in the spring, while other fields less pro- 

 tected, where the bug was not found in numbers, escaped injury ; and I 

 know of several other fields near this city apparently affected in the same 

 manner. 



I have always found this insect in hay fields, generally in timothy or 

 clover, occasionally among wild grasses. I do not recollect ever hav- 

 ing taken a specimen in a grain field of any kind. If it has so thor- 

 oughly acquired the habit of subsisting upon the cultivated cereals in the 

 West, why should it not affect the same plants here, especially if it has 

 been introduced from that section of the country through commercial 

 transportation ? It would be highly interesting to learn of its occurrence 

 in this State at localities distant from main railroad lines. 



