ECONOMIC ZOOLOGY — ENTOMOLOGY. 663 



$4,000,000 has been expended l)y the different States in New England, by private 

 property o\vners, and by this Department. 



Several sources of distribution of the ])est have recently come to lij,'ht. lu 

 March, 1909, wood used in repairing railway track, near Scarboro I'.each, 

 Maine, which had come from infested territory in Massachusetts was found to 

 be badly infested with giiisy moth egg clusters. This has resulted in the intro- 

 duction of a system of inspection of forest products shipped from infested 

 territory. During the winter of 1909 webs containing hibernating caterpillars 

 of the brown-tail moth were discovered in seedling nursery stoclc imported from 

 France as previously noted (E. S. R., 23, p. 360). "At the close of the season 

 brown-tail moths had been found in shipments of stoclc received in 15 States, 

 and a single egg cluster of the gipsy moth in a shipment received in Ohio." 



The greater part of the exiK?rimental work is stated to have been along the 

 line of developing more efficient spraying methods. The use of the tower on 

 power sprayers has resulted in a great saving in the cost of treatment. Tests 

 made in 1909 with large spraying machines to determine the most effective 

 pressures and the best size of nozzle outlets indicate that on an average the 

 |-inch nozzle now used will carry the spray 20 ft. farther than a A-inch nozzle 

 and that it is necessary to maintain a pressure of over 200 lbs. in order to 

 secure satisfactory results. Because of the expense involved in applying and 

 tending burlap, it is not now considered as satisfactory a method of destroying 

 the caterpillars a.s the more recent system of banding the trees with tanglefoot. 

 In spraying arsenate of lead, 10 lbs. to 100 gal. of water is used, but after 

 the caterpillars are half grown it is often desirable to increase this amount to 

 12 or 15 lbs. to the same amount of water. The powder sprayers, equipment 

 used, etc., and methods of application, are described. It is stated that a machine 

 and crew of men can usually cover about 12 acres of woodland per day, the 

 entire cost of treatment averaging about .$10 per acre. The cost of the methods 

 employed, the value of natural enemies in controlling the 2 pests, the intro- 

 duction of parasites and natural enemies of the 2 pests, the value of the work 

 of suppression to the farmer and fi'uit-grower, suggestions to the owners of 

 private property in the infestetl districts, and similar points are also briefly 

 considered. 



A list of the moi'e important American publications on the gipsy and brown- 

 tall moths is appended. 



An account of some experiments on the edibility of certain lepidopterous 

 larvae, 11. Eltrixgham (Trans. Ent. Soc. London. I'JOD, pt. .}, pp. -'/77-.J7S).— A 

 report of experiments conducted to determine the preference of lizards for 

 certain insects. 



Mosquitoes: With reference to immigration and horse sickness, and notes 

 on the destruction of their larvae by fish in the Sudan, A. liALFOUR ( Cnim 

 Sci. Jour., 3 (1909), No. 37, pp. 2//i-2//5).— Because of the blocking of the cur- 

 rent of the White Nile and the overflow of the Blue Nile, great numbers of 

 mosquitoes were brought to Khartoum on steamers. The majority proved to 

 be Stcyomyia aiJopits, but CuJc-c fatifjans was conunon and I'lirctophonis ros- 

 talis also a visitor. 



As horse sickne.ss, or blue tongue, was i)revalent up the Blue Nile, it is sug- 

 gested that the intrcMluction of the mosquitoes may have had something to do 

 with the outbreak of the disease in Khartoum. The introduction of 2 species 

 of fish which feed on mosquito larvje is stated to be under way. 



A contribution to the study of distomid parasites of Anopheles maculi- 

 pennis, G. Allessandrim (Malaria, 1 (1909), .Yo. 2, pp. 133-1.37; ahH. hi liuL 

 Inst. Pasteur, 7 {1909), No. 12, p. 5////).— The author has found the larva of 

 a distome (apparently that of Lecithodendriuin ascidia, a i)arasit(' of the bat) 



