G4G ANNUAL REPORTS OP DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTU513. 



a green katydid and certain leaf-feeding larva?. Against this class 

 of insects tests have been conducted wim arsenicals in combination 

 with the linie-sulpliiir dcMuonstration for tlie orange thnps jupt re- 

 ferred to. The work against the orange thrips in this region and 

 the particular leaf- feeding insects mentioned should be completed 

 with this years work, and a final report prepared for publication. 



INVESTIGATIONS OF INSECTS IN THEIR DIRECT RELATION TO THE HEALTH 



OF IMAN AND DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 



THE HOUSE FLY AND THE MALAEIAL MOSQUITO. 



Some additional experiments have been carried on with regard 

 to the destruction of the disease-bearing house fly, and every effort 

 has l)een made to stimulate the popular crusade against this insect 

 which has been spreading over the country, and to assist in every 

 possible Avay those engaged in remedial movements in different cities 

 and elsewhere. The work of the bureau has been a prime factor in 

 the spread of knowledge concerning the carriage of disease by the 

 house fly and of the best measures for its control. 



In the same way, by correspondence, by the distribution of printed 

 information, and by further studies, the encouragement of work 

 against the malarial mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles has been 

 fostered during the 3^ear as during the previous year. Antimosquito 

 Avork has been undertaken in many places for the purpose of reliev- 

 ing the annoyance caused by the presence of mosquitoes. It is hoped, 

 however, that movements directed mainly against malaria may be in- 

 creased in number in this country. It is a strange fact that in 

 other countries antimos(iuito work has been carried on practically 

 entirely wnth the idea of reducing the mortality from malaria and 

 the incapacitation of labor from the effects of this disease, while in 

 this country, with the exception of the work done upon Staten Island, 

 all measures against mosquitoes have been inaugurated against them 

 simply as nuisances and as operating to reduce the value of real 

 estate, and not primarily as a means of lessening disease. 



WORK ON TICKS. 



The tick work done by the bureau has been under the direct super- 

 vision of Mr. W. D. Hunter, and includes studies of and experiments 

 with all ticks concerned in the carriage of diseases of animals and 

 man. The investigation of the Rocky Mountain spotted fever tick 

 in the Northwest, referred to in the last report, was carried to the 

 ]5oint where it was possible to outline a means of eradication that is 

 both practical and economical. By this plan, resulting from life- 

 history studies, it has become possible to organize a campaign for 

 the total eradication of this important pest at a cost of about $25,000. 

 The details of this plan have been elaborated in a bulletin published 

 by the bureau. Arrangements had been made to continue observa- 

 tions on a small scale to show the longevity of the ticks under dif- 

 ferent conditions, but the work has been discontinued for the reason 

 that the United States Public Health and Marine-Hospital Service, at 

 the request of the State health authorities of Montana, decided to take 

 up the problem, which more logically belongs to that service than to 

 the Department of Agriculture. In its work the bureau carried on 



