THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 24!) 



The hectic is about an eighth of an inch in length, of a grizzly color 

 and beset with rather rigid, civet hair. According to Dr. E. A. 

 Schwarz, 1 this common and .somewhat destructive clover beetle was first 

 recorded in this country by Dr. -J. L. Le Conte in 1876, from Long 

 Island. X. Y.. and by 1889 had spread as far as Washington, D. C. 

 I can supplement this note myself, by stating that it has now spread 

 throughout the northeastern states and Canada, has for some years been 

 well established in Western Washington and the Willamette Valley of 

 Oregon and will now, no doubt, soon he equally at home here. 



'Proe. Ent. Soc. Wash. Vol. 1 ( L890), pp. 248-249. 



A SCALE INSECT NEW TO CALIFORNIA. 



By Harry S. Smith. Superintendent State Insectary, 



Mr. I). D. Sharp, county horticultural commissioner of Riverside 

 County, recently called my attention to a Palmetto on the Wright ranch 

 near Riverside, which is heavily infested with the Palmetto scale. Com- 

 stockiella sabMs I Comst.). This scale seems to have been recorded from 

 Florida and the Guadaloupe Islands only. .Air. Wright states that it 

 has been present on this tree for something like 15 years, and while he 

 has gr< wing in his yard over 40 different varieties of palms, it has 

 never been found on anything but the Palmetto. In view of this, 

 there seems to be little danger that this scale will attack either the date 

 palm or ornamental palms, but Mr. Sharp states that in order to be 

 safe he will attempt to eradicate the scale on the infested Palmetto. 



DESTROY THE GRASSHOPPERS. 



By Theodore D. Urbahns, Entomological Assistant. U. s. Department of Agriculture. 



The several species of closely-related insects, commonly known as 

 grasshoppers, have in recent years caused such great destruction to the 

 nation's food supply that the present necessity for increased food pro- 

 duction and protection against the ravages of this pest, makes it import- 

 ant for every farmer to acquaint himself with the most modern and 

 effective methods of destroying grasshoppers. He should, immediately 

 upon their appearance, even in small numbers, put such practices into 

 effect as will avoid further great loss in the nation's food supply. 



In California alone grasshoppers have caused an annual destruction 

 of at least $1,(100.11(1(1 to the cereal and forage crops, which are the main 

 crops necessary for the food supply; not mentioning the immense loss 

 from this pest to the fruit, vegetable and truck crops of this section of 

 the country. In some of the larger alfalfa fields the annual loss con- 

 stitutes almost one-third of the normal production. In other sections 

 this pest is present year after year, causing a great aggregate loss, but 

 hardly abundant enough to arouse the individual farmer to an effective 

 grasshopper campaign. It is this aggregate loss over hundreds and 

 thousands of farms that must be lessened, as well as the loss where the 

 pest appears in sneh great numbers as to del roy the entire crop. 



Editor's Note.— Tins article was written for Immediate use and is published with 

 the kind permission of Dr. L. O. Howard, chief of the Bureau of Entomology, U. S. 

 Department of Agriculture. Mr. Urbahns has had a wide experience In the control or 

 grasshoppers, and with the present necessity for maximum production "f food crops 

 the advice concerning grasshopper control is both timely and valuable. 



