REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST AXD BOTANIST 215 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



Wallflowers, than by cultivated crops, but on many occasions great injury has been 

 done to crops of turnips and cabbages of all kinds. 



The Red-f:dged Leaf-iiopper, Oncometopia lateralis, Fab. — As the prairie lands 

 of the West are gradually brought under cultivation, it must be expected that some of 

 the native insects will occasionally turn their attention to cultivated crops and also 

 that some of them may become regular enemies of the farmer or tree-grower. 



In May last, specimens of the above-named leaf-hopper were sent in by Mr. J. A. 

 Mitchell, of Pakan, Alberta, with the report that they were occurring in destructive 

 numbers upon his young seedlings of the Ash-leaved Maple (Acer Negundo). These 

 were insects which had passed the winter in the mature condition. In August Mr. 

 S. S. Galbraith sent several specimens of a new brood which he had found in great 

 numbers on his vegetables. They were especially thick on the stems of parsnips, beets, 

 &c., and it was noticed that they discharged frequently drops of a colourless liquid, 

 evidently the sap which they had sucked from the plants. No particular damage was 

 noticed and the insects disappeared suddenly after a heavy rain storm. Should these 

 leaf-hoppers ever occur in sufficient numbers to become injurious, contact insecticides 

 such as whale-oil soap or kerosene emulsion should be sprayed over the infested plants. 



The Hop Flea-beetle, PsylUodes punctidata, Melsh. — For several years com- 

 plaints of extensive injury to the hop plants in the Fraser river valley of British 

 Columbia by a small black flea-beetle have been reported. Specimens have been re- 

 ceived from Mr. John Wilson, the manager of large hop-yards belonging to Sir 

 Arthur Stepney. Mr. Wilson writes on September 14 last: — 



Agassiz, B.C. — ' I am sending you a package of hops, just as I pulled them from 

 the vines. I am now all through with my hop picking, and we had a very light crop — 

 only 42 bales where we ought to have had 240. This shortage is due to the work of 

 the flea-b'eetle. At the present price of hops, I consider that Sir Arthur Stepney will 

 be a loser of from $15,000 to $20,000, so, you will see what a serious matter this is.' 



Mr. Wilson tried many experiments with insecticides, but with little effect; and 

 I must acknowledge that I cannot understand his failures, unless perhaps his spraying 

 apparatus may have been inadequate. The remedy recommended was the ordinary 

 poisoned Bordeaux mixture, made according to the 4-4-40 formula, with from 4 to 

 8 ounces of Paris green to the 40 gallons. He also tried the Bordeaux mixture poison- 

 ed with 4 pounds of arsenate of lead to the same amount of mixture. Either of these 

 applications should certainly kill this insect on hops, as they have been found to do on 

 rhubarb in the Northwest and Manitoba. 



Mr. Thomas Cunningham, the Provincial Inspector of Fruit Pests of British 

 Columbia, visited the infested hop yards and helped Mr. Wilson in his efforts at con- 

 trolling the beetle. He writes to me in December last : — 



Vancouver, B.C. — ' I am free to confess that very litte impression was made by 

 arsenical spraying. Dusting seem.ed to do better. I have a Leggett powder gun 

 which does excellent dusting; but the trouble is, as foon as the dust or spray strikes 

 the vines, the fleas hop off on to the ground. In all my experience with insects, I 

 have never seen anything that will approach the fleas in resistance to all kinds of treat- 

 ment.' 



Mr. H. Hulburt, of Sardis, B.C., has also had experience with the Hop Flea- 

 beetle, and has destroyed large numbers by catching them on tarred sheets as they flew 

 from the vines after being disturbed. 



The Hop Flea-beetle is a native insect, and there are two broods in the year, the 

 first appearing in June and the second in August. It is quite different from the flea- 

 beetles which are found on hops in England. IJp to the present time little progress 

 has been made towards getting a practical remedy; but steps have been taken to carry 

 out further experiments next season, which it is hoped, will be more satisfactory. 



