724 THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



GENERAL NOTES. 



AN INTERESTING INTRUDER. 



When we remember that there are more insects, proh^ibly more beetU^s 

 (Coleoptera), than there are of all other species of animals of all the 

 groups, Ave may not wonder that the student of this class of animals 

 is constantly running against surprises. An insect puzzle has just come 

 to us here. Mr. S. II. Essig. Horticultural Inspector of Ventura County, 

 sends in a large number of snout beetles, or weevils, which were found 

 doing no little damage to the tender foliage of the apricot trees. These 

 prove to be otiorhynchids, or not very distant relatives of Fuller's rose 

 beetle, Aramigvs fulleri. This, strange as it may seem, is a species 

 entirely new to science, so far as we can determine. The puzzle is just 

 here : How could a new species come upon us all at once in large 

 numbers! Is it an importation, or has it come upon the apricot from 

 some wild plant of our own State ? In either case we should suppose 

 that some keen-eyed entomologist would have "spotted" it before this. 



It will be remembered that Fuller's rose beetle was discovered only 

 a comparatively short time ago. Yet it is now a pest to be reckoned 

 with, both as a larva and as an imago. 



Fortunately this new pest does not come till midsummer, when the 

 season's growth is well advanced, and so partial defoliation is less dam- 

 aging than earlier in the season. 



The larvaj of Aramigus fulleri feeds upon the roots of roses, rasp- 

 berries, blackberries and other rosaceous plants, and often does serious 

 mischief. It will be interesting to know where this new pest works in 

 the larval or grub stage. 



A word as to remedial measures against this new pest. In case the 

 larva works on the roots of cultivated plants then bisulphide of carbon, 

 which has been used successfully against the grubs of Fuller's rose 

 weevil, would doubtless serve as a remedy. It is a well-known fact that 

 most weevils when jarred fall to the ground, and that all leaf -eaters are 

 poisoned by use of lead arsenate as a spray. By use of the jarring 

 method — trapping the insects — I saved my plum crop in Michigan 

 entirely for years, while neighbors who gave no heed to the Curculio 

 lost all. Lead arsenate, three pounds to fifty gallons of water, is a cheap, 

 effective poison. This is a mixture and not a solution, and so should be 

 stirred so as to keep it uniform. In case insects are very numerous, 

 this last may seem to be ineffective, as the multitudes killed l)y the 

 poison are at once replaced by other multitudes ready to take their place 

 and meet their fate. 



This often happens when we use the arsenical mixtures to kill the 

 rose chafer, Macrodactijhis suhsinnosus, of the eastern states. In all 

 such cases, where we use poisonous sprays, we must apply with force 

 so as to reach all the foliage. — A. J. Cook. 



