• ECONOMIC ZOOLOGY — ENTOMOLOGY. 855 



rank growth of weeds. Ou such land it is often very difficult to secure a satis- 

 factory stand of corn. In Appomattox County, certain fields under observation 

 were replanted several tinies, and owing to tbe lateness of the season when a 

 stand was secured, the value of the crop was decreased fully 50 per cent. 



" The worms attack the young corn just below the surface of the ground and 

 burrow into the base of the stalks. The outer portion of the stalk is frequently 

 girdled. If the stalks are small when attacked, they are either killed or so 

 stunted or dwarfed that they never fully outgrow the injury, and produce little 

 or no grain. Much of the corn is destroyed just as the seed is sprouting. When 

 the stalks reach a height of 1 ft. or more, comparatively little damage is done. 

 Several larvje are often found about the roots of a single stalk. As many as 

 22 have been collected from one hill of corn. Injury is not apt to be as severe 

 in wet weather, as the plants are more vigorous and better able to withstand 

 the attacks of the worms. In wet weather, weeds which furnish suitable food 

 for the worms are apt to be plentiful, and these are attacked in preference to 

 the corn." 



A careful study of the life history and seasonal history of this species is 

 under way, 'and attention is being given to field experiments with various meth- 

 ods of control. As a number of common weeds have been found to be natural 

 food plants of the worms, a rotation of crops intended to keep the weeds in 

 check will assist in reducing the number of worms in the field. 



The palm weevil as a sugar cane pest, L. H. Gough (Dept. Agr. Trinidad 

 Bui., 10 {1911), No. 67. pp. 59-6 'f, pi. 1). — The author reports having observed 

 during a visit to San Fernando a field of sugar cane in which 25 per cent of the 

 plants had been killed, and many more injured or checked in their growth, by 

 the palm weevil (Rhynehophorus palmarum). 



Isle of Wight bee disease (Bd. Agr. and Fisheries [London], Leaflet 253, 

 1911, pp. 2). — A brief account is here given of the epidemic disease that first 

 attacked bees in the Isle of Wight and has since reached the mainland, where it 

 appears to be spreading. A description of the symptoms and a plan of pro- 

 cedure to be followed upon its appearance among bees are included in the 

 account. 



Annual report of the Bee Keepers' Association of the Province of Ontario, 

 1910 {Ann. Rpt. Bee Keepers' Assoc. Ontario, 1910, pp. 64)- — The proceedings 

 of the association are here reported. 



Two new insect pests in Nebraska iForestry Quart., 8 {1910), No. 4, PP- 

 Jill-'flfi). — In the first paper, which is entitled A New Insect Enemy of the 

 Western Yellow Pine (pp. 411-413), L. Bruner reports that a sawfly resembling 

 Lophyrus townsendi has been found to defoliate western pine in the north- 

 western part of the State, brief notes on its biology being included in the 

 account. 



In the second paper, entitled The Pine-Tip Moth {Retinia frustrana), M. H. 

 Swenk reports that for the past 2 seasons young pines growing upon the Na- 

 tional Forest at Halsey, Nebr., have suffered quite severe injury through the 

 ravages of this insect. A careful examination made in July, 1909, showed that 

 35 per cent of the new tips were affected, practically all of which were dead 

 and brown. " The trees most injured were in the older parts of the plantations 

 where the jack pine was about 6 ft. tall with smaller Scotch pine scattered 

 among them. During the past season, 1910, these injuries have spread to prac- 

 tically all the young pines on the forest and the attack was noticeably more 

 serious, the injured twigs exceeding 50 per cent of the entire number and on 

 some trees including nearly every new shoot." 

 17732°— No. 9—12 5 



