378 THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



INSECT NOTES. . 



The Achemon Sphinx Moth, Pholus acheinon, has been doing considerable damage 

 to grapes, especially the earlier varieties, in the vicinity of Escalon, San Joaquin 

 County. Mr. A. R. Humphrey reports the entire defoliation of about forty acres, 

 and serious damage to a much larger area. Just what will be the effect on the fruit, 

 which was not quite mature, has not been determined. — Harry S. Smith. 



Through the kindness of Doctor F. H. Chittenden of the Federal Bureau of 

 Entomology, the insectary has been enabled to introduce a goodly number of the 

 Braconid parasite, Ananteles glomeratus, into the cabbage fields infested with the 

 cabbage worm along the Sacramento River. Oviposition was commonly noted in the 

 field, and undoubtedly it will become established and become something of a factor 

 in the control of that pest. In the east, however, the pest still has to be reckoned 

 with in spite of the abundance of this parasite. — Harry S. Smith. 



Numerous adults of the California grape root worm, Adoxus oljsciirus Linn, were 

 found in a canyon near Towle, Placer County, on August 12th, feeding on a large 

 leafed plant, Saxifraga feltata, which occurs very abundantly along the streams in 

 the Sierras. — E. J. Branigan. 



On August 20th the writer collected near Lake Spaulding, Placer County, adults 

 of the large wood boring beetle, Prionus calif ornic us. — E. J. Branigan. 



The pine scales, Aspidiotus californica and Chionaspis mnifoliw, are numerous on 

 the pines in the Towle section of Placer County. — E. J. Branigan. 



The woolly aphis, Eriosoma lanigera Hausm.. is very common on the limbs and 

 roots of apple trees in the Towle section of Placer County, especially in dooryards. — 

 E. J. Branigan. 



The mealy plum louse, Hyalovteris arundinus, was recently sent to this office 

 for identification by Mr. L. M. Boggs, of Susanville, where he found it feeding upon 

 reed grass, Phragmites commums. The record of this louse occurring on above 

 grass in California is of much interest, because of the fact that heretofore it has 

 not been reported upon anything except the plum. It has been known to leave plum 

 and prune trees as soon as wings are attained, but where it went seemed a mystery. 

 Prof. C. P. Gillette, of the Colorado Agricultural College, discovered its habit of 

 going from the plum to the reed grass, in Colorado, some years ago. There, this 

 grass is abundant and is sometimes made to turn brown and even dry up by the 

 lice, so plentiful do they become on it. In California the grass does not seem to 

 be so plentiful, at least is not generally distributed over the State, and it would 

 seem that the lice must have some other alternate host, as they are very commonly 

 found on plum and prune, and remain there only until the winged generation develops, 

 when they take flight.^ — Geo. P. Weldon. 



