ECONOMIC ZOOLOGY ENTOMOLOGY. 457 



The pest has been observed in Illinois since 1901 (E. S. R., 13, p. 1063), 

 when it was found injuring apple foliage in various localities in the southern 

 part of the State. In some localities the weevils have been abundant enough 

 to be of considerable economic interest, the injury during the past two years 

 having been quite serious, especially in orchards where the foliage is naturally 

 scanty. The reduction of the leaf surface as a result of the work of the beetle 

 has been variously estimated at from 1 to 50 per cent. 



The weevil has been found to be single brooded. " It requires something 

 less than four weeks from the time the egg is laid for the insects to reach ma- 

 turity. Last year practically all the beetles of the new brood had reached ma- 

 turity and emerged by June 10. This new brood of beetles is the one that does 

 the injury. It feeds upon the undersides of the leaves for a month or six 

 week.s, from about the middle of May to the first week in July, and then de- 

 scends to the ground and there remains apparently without food for the remain- 

 der of the season and the following winter, to appear again the following 

 spring. 



" Since the egg is inserted in the tissues of the leaf and the larval and pupal 

 stages are passed within the leaf where sprays will not reach them, remedial 

 measures must he directed against the adult. The adults of the old brood are 

 to be found on the trees after the first of April, the new brood after the middle 

 of May. If possible, the old brood should be destroyed before April 15 or 20, 

 in order to prevent the deposition of eggs for the new brood." 



Arsenate of lead, arsenite of zinc, and ferrous arsenate were experimented 

 with, the last two being less effective than arsenate of lead and both burning 

 the foliage badly. The experiments show " that the beetle is susceptible to 

 arsenical poisons, though perhaps less so than many other insects; that im- 

 mediate excellent results followed the spraying with arsenate of lead in one 

 case in which starch paste was used to secure an even spread of the spray and 

 special pains wei'e taken to cover thoroughly the undersides of the leaves, but 

 that the spray thus applied did not seem to be effective after 36 hours had 

 elapsed in destroying beetles then on the tree ; and that flour paste, soap, 

 lime-sulphur, and i^erhaps Bordeaux mixture added to the arsenical spray 

 repel the beetles." On June 10 bands of tanglefoot fly paper, 2 in. in width, 

 were placed about 2 ft. from the ground around the trunks of six trees. Five 

 days later 408, 375, 426, 548, 387, and 395 beetles, respectively, were counted. 



The most promising experiments were those made with contact sprays. 

 Blackleaf 40 used at the rate of 0.25 oz. in a gallon of water in which 1 oz. of 

 soap had been dissolved was found to be about equal in effectiveness to 5 per 

 cent kerosene emulsion. A 6 per cent kerosene emulsion did not kill the beetles 

 satisfactorily but an 8 per cent emulsion killed them almost instantly. " The 

 contact sprays appear to be the most likely to prove effective, though it is very 

 possible that by beginning early enough and spraying thoroughly enough with 

 the poisons, satisfactory results may be accomplished. In either case the sticky 

 bauds will pi'ove useful. If no single method succeeds, there is no doubt that 

 by the combined use of all the methods suggested serious injury may be 

 avoided." 



The clover leaf weevil (Hypera punctata), T. H. Parks (Jour. Econ. Ent., 

 7 (1914), No. 3, p. 297). — This weevil, common in the Eastern States, has 

 recently become abundant in a section of the Payette Valley in southwestern 

 Idaho, where during April, 1914, a field of red clover was eaten to the ground 

 and surrounding alfalfa seriously injured by the larvae. 



The boll weevil problem, B. L. Moss {[Birmingham, Ala.], 1914, PP- 

 VII+95, pis. 5, figs. 9). — A summarized account of the Mexican cotton boll 

 weevil and its relation to cotton culture, remedial measures, etc. 



