766 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



A few experiments were made to determine whether kerosene could 

 be successfully and economically used to rid certain localities of the 

 mosquito plague and to determine how large a pond could be success- 

 fully treated. The test did not result satisfactorily. 



"The conclusion from this experiment is that kerosene to he effective against 

 mosquito larvae must cover the surface to a perceptihle depth ; a mere film Avill not 

 answer. As the usual market price of the oil in small quantities throughout Idaho 

 is 30 to 35 cts. a gallon, the cost will he prohibitive except in thickly settled com- 

 munities and on small bodies of water, where the remedy will doubtless be of marked 

 usefulness." 



Some differences between the Putnam scale and the San Jose scale 

 are pointed out. The characteristics, habits, and injuries of the box- 

 elder bug are considered. 



Some insects of the year 1897, W. B. Barrows and B. H. Pettit 

 (Michigan Sta. Bui. 160, pp. 339-436, Jigs. 29). — Notes are given of 28 

 species of insects which were more or less troublesome during the sea- 

 son indicated. These were not necessarily the ones that caused the 

 most damage, but as it is considered impracticable to publish in a sin- 

 gle bulletin a treatise which shall cover all insect enemies, it is thought 

 the selection made will prove to be the most serviceable. The insects 

 treated are the following: Grasshoppers (Melanoplus femur-rubrum and 

 M. atlanis), pear psylla (Psylla pyricola), aphids of plum, cherry, and 

 apple (Aphis prunicola, Myzus cerasi, and A. mail), black peach aphis 

 (A. persiccc-niger), woolly aphis of apple (Schizoneura lanigera), San Jose 

 scale (Aspidiotus perniciosus), eccentric scale (A. ancylus), oyster-shell 

 bark louse (Mytilaspis pomorum), white scale of the pine (Chionaspis 

 pinifolU), scurvy scale of the pear and apple (C. J'urJ'urus), plum scale 

 (Lecanium cerasij'ex), currant scale (L. ribesii), cankerworms (Anisop- 

 teryx pometaria and Paleacrita vernata), apple-leaf tier (Teras minuta 

 Cinderella), bud moth ( Tmetocera ocellana), army worm (Leucania uni- 

 puncta), erratic army worm (Noctuafennica), zebra caterpillar (Mamestra 

 picta), cat and dog flea (Pulex serraticeps), grape-cane borer (Amphicerus 

 bicaudatus), cherry-leaf beetle (Galerucella cavicollis), asparagus beetle 

 (Crioceris asparagi), pear slug (Eriocampa cerasi), and white-pine saw- 

 fly (Lopliyrus lecontei). 



On the biology and taxonomy of some species of mining Dip- 

 tera, W. C. Brashuikov (Nachricht Moskauer Landiv. ' Instituts, 3 

 (1897), pp. 22, pis. 1, and Jigs.; abs. in Zool. Centbl., 5(1898), No. 7, pp. 234- 

 -236).— Observations were made on the 3 genera of Muscidse — Phyto- 

 myza, Agromyza, and Anthomyia. The larvae of Phytomyza geniculata 

 mine the leaves of different Composite of Pisuni sativum, Gucumeris 

 sativa, several Cruciferre, etc., and are also polyphagous — a habit not 

 found in other mining Diptera. The eggs are laid on the under surface 

 of the leaves, the larvae eat through the epidermis of the leaf, and 

 make irregular passages in its interior. In a single leaf 1 or 2 larvae 

 may be found. Pupation always takes place on the under leaf surfaces, 

 where the larva sticks its head somewhat out of the leaf. The larva 



