56 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



hoppers are invariably accompanied by a partial ragging of clover 

 or other acceptable food, and where this does not occur insects are 

 not abundant or else are likely to be something else than grasshoppers. 



Later in the simimer half-grown to nearly adult grasshoppers 

 were to be seen here and there in considerable numbers and in early 

 September there were reports of the insects ruining cabbage and 

 cleaning up grass fields in portions of the towns of Galway, Charlton, 

 Ballston and Northumberland. There was also serious injury to 

 some two thousand young pear and apple trees on the place of 

 ex-Congressman Peter Ten Eyck near Meadowdale, approximately 

 three-fourths of the trees being defoliated. Young trees in other 

 sections were also injured in a similar manner. 



The above indicates the- desirability of watching developments 

 throughout the season. An unusual abundance of grasshoppers 

 near valued crops or trees should be destroyed by the early use of 

 the poisoned bait. It is our opinion that this material can be 

 used much more generally than it has been, especially along roadsides 

 and on minor areas where the insects are comparatively thick. 

 The total damage by these general feeders is much larger than most 

 people realize, while in many cases remedial measures are com- 

 paratively inexpensive. 



Grass mite (Pediculopsis graminum Reut.) . Stems of 

 timothy with prematurely whitened heads were received under date 

 of July 16, 191 7, from G. P. McRostie, Kingston, accompanied by 

 the statement that the meadow from which the sample was taken 

 had approximately 50 per cent of the stems thus affected. There 

 was a shriveled portion at the base of the leaf characteristic of the 

 work of the mite, though none of the pests were to be found in the 

 material submitted for examination. A Cecidomyid larva was 

 found under the leaf sheath of one specimen. It was impossible to 

 rear the insect and it may have been an accidental occurrence, 

 though the probabilities are that it was predaceous and possibly 

 referable to the genus Aphidoletes. 



The same type of injury was rather common in several fields on 

 the state road from Maiden Bridge to Chatham and also in the town 

 of Ghent. The injury easily amounted to 25 per cent and in limited 

 areas might well run to 50 per cent of the heads. This pest was 

 also troublesome in Dutchess county. 



This grass mite appears to be widely distributed in the United 

 States, since it has been reported from Nebraska, in widely sepa- 

 rated sections of Illinois, and is stated by Hodgkiss to be a rather 

 common species upon several grasses in New York State. It is also 



