REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 203 



covered all the young growth of fruit trees and were most destructive to the fruit crop. 

 In some varieties of apples, the Gravenstein suffering most, the crop was utterly ruined, 

 and in all it was greatly diminished. Young trees in the nursery were destroyed, or the 

 growth for the year stopped." — [Charles E. Brown.] 



"Sussex, King's Co., N.B., November 19. — On young apple trees the green aphis 

 was in very large numbers, always with the attendant ants." — [W. W. Hubbard.] 



Mr. Martin Burrell, of St. Catharines, Ont., has favoured me with the following 

 useful observations on some Plant-lice of the orchard made by him during the past 

 season : — 



" As far as fruit-growini^ is concerned the different species of Plant-lice have been 

 by far the most serious pests we have had this season. I do not recall such a scourge 

 for many years. Every kind of fruit tree was affected, and even the weeds did not 

 escape. 



" The principal damage has been done by the Cherry Aphis (if 2/3MS cerasi. Fab. ), whose 

 attacks on the sweet cherry of this peninsula were simply disastrous. I do not think I 

 should be overshooting the mark if I said that half the crop was ruined. I saw many 

 cases where not only the foliage was covered but even the fruit, and especially the 

 stalks, with lice. The application of kerosene emulsion is such a " messy " business and 

 the pressure of other work is so great at that season of the year that the pest is rarely 

 checked on its first appearance. We shall have to din it thoroughly into our heads that 

 the stamping out of the early generations of both the black and green aphis is the most 

 important work of the day. The green species did an enormous amount of harm, not 

 only to the growing shoots of young plum and pear trees, but to the foliage of the fruit- 

 ing trees, thereby impairing both the size and flavour of the fruit and further depressing 

 already congested markets by dumping on them large quantities of half-coloured, insipid 

 and worthless plums. It is, of course, well known that the black species of lice are more 

 resistant to insecticides than the green. I find that the kerosene emulsion should be 

 diluted with only 6 or 7 times the quantity of water to be effective against Myzus cerasi, 

 while 1 to 12 or 14 is all right for the green forms. 



" Tobacco water should be on the strong side too. I did not find 1 pound to 6 

 gallons thoroughly effective. A closer proportion would, I think, be advisable, and the 

 tobacco should be boiled thoroughly. The lady-birds did good work this year among 

 the lice, as might be expected, especially Coccinella 9-notata, Hbst., and Anatis 15- 

 punctata, Oliv. Myzus cerasi, which usually keeps pretty much to the sweet cherries, 

 appeared in my orchard of Early Richmond cherries toward the end of June, and by 

 July 1st was increasing very rapidly. During this time the larvae of Anatis 15-punctata 

 were doing good work on the lice. By July 4th most of the larvae had pupated. The 

 pupal period was only from 4 to 6 days, and by July 10th any quantities of the beetles 

 could be seen, the predominant colour being a creamy white or even lavender, with the 

 characteristic markings. The lice by this time had decidedly lessened in numbers and 

 I felt that I could leave them safely in the hands of our coccinellid friends." — [Martin 

 Burrell.] 



The Plum Aphis [Aphis prunifolii, Fitch) has been unusually abundant in many 

 parts of the Dominion, being the Plant-louse most often inquired about in correspondence. 

 Reports of Plant-lice on plum from Manitoba, the North-west Territories and British 

 Columbia probably referred to a different species, Uyalopter^hs pruni, Fab., which is also 

 stated by Prof. C. P. Gillette in the Proceedings of the Ninth Annual Meeting of the 

 Association of Economic Entomologists to have been particularly wide-spread and very 

 injurious to plum trees in Colorado during the past summer." 



'* Woodville, Lot 2, P.E.I., June 10. — I send you specimens of an insect that has 

 over-run our orchards of plums and Damsons. They cause the leaves to curl, dry up and 

 die in a short time. Please let me know what they are and how to get rid of them." — 

 [Michael McGrath.] 



The specimens sent with this letter were ApJ^is prunifolii, Fitch. 



" Nappan, Cumberland Co., N.S., July 8. — I send you specimens of Aphis prunifolii. 

 These are a terrible pest on our plum trees. The kerosene emulsion is a sure cure if if"- 



