158 EXPEEIMENT STATION EECORD. 



of which the genus Boettcheria and three species belonging to it and three 

 species of Ravinia are described as new. The paper is devoted in large part to 

 the external anatomy of the family. The observations of Kelly (E. S. R., 32, 

 p. 60) and others have shown members of this family to be of considerable eco- 

 nomic importance as parasites, particularly of grasshoppers. 



Appearance of the Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata) in 

 Germany (Illus. Landiv. Ztg., SJf {Wilt), No. 57, pp. 538, 539, fig. 1; ahs. in 

 Internat. Inst. Agr. [Rome^, Mo. Bui. Agr. Intel, and Plant Diseases, 5 {1914), 

 No. 9, p. 1248; Mo. Bui. Com. Hort. Cal., 3 (1914), No. 12, p. 53//).— The presence 

 of the Colorado potato beetle, which has not been observed to occur in Germany 

 since 1887, has been reported from Hohenwedel, near Stade (Hanover), and its 

 eradication is being undertaken by the Government. 



The rose beetle (Adoretus vestitus) and the injury it causes in the 

 Samoan Islands, E. Friederichs {Ztschr. Wiss. InsektenUol., 10 {1914), No. 2, 

 pp. 41-41, figs. 6; alts, in Internat. Inst. Agr. [Rome], Mo. Bui. Agr. Intel, and 

 Plant Diseases, 5 {1914), No. 9, pp. 1252, 1253). — A descriptive account of this 

 pest which is very abundant in the island of Upolu. In addition to roses it 

 feeds on leaves of the cacao in a characteristic manner, leaving only the outer 

 edges and the ribs untouched. The author recently observed many young 

 cacao plants in a cacao plantation that had been destroyed by this pest. " Even 

 large trees were seriously injured by these insects. Other frequent host plants 

 are Cojfea liberica. Hibiscus tiliaceus (' fau ' of the Samoans; almost every plant 

 had its leaves completely devoured), Terminalia litoralis ('talie' of the 

 natives), and others. The injury caused by these beetles, with the exception of 

 that to roses (which have no economic importance in Samoa), has not hitherto 

 been very severe; the insect and the injury that it does are, however, on the 

 increase and perhaps before long it may become dangerous." 



A trap for turnip fly, H. M. Lefroy {Jour. Roy. Hort. Soc., 40 {1914), No. 

 2, pp. 269-211, pi. 1). — ^The author describes the structure of a trap devised 

 for use in combating the blue flea-beetle {Phyllotreta consobrina) and the 

 yellow striped flea-beetle (P. tindulata), important enemies of turnips, swedes, 

 cabbages, and allied cruciferous plants in the seedling stage in Great Britain. 

 The trap consists of two boards (coated with Morlar Hop Wash) set at a 

 slop^ on a pair of runners, like those of a sledge or toboggan, with a space 

 between. The trap is drawn along the drill so that the plants pass down the 

 space in the middle. In order to disturb the beetles a loop of string hangs 

 from a crowbar and brushes the plants. Thus disturbed the flea-beetles always 

 leap sideways, alight on the sticky boards, and perish. 



The cotton and corn wireworm (Horistonotus uhlerii), A. F. Coneadi and 

 H. C. Eagerton {South Carolina Sta. Bui. 180 {1914), PP- 16, pis. 4). — ^A de- 

 tailed report of studies of H. uhlerii conducted largely at Ruffin, Colleton 

 County, S. C, in cooperation with the Bureau of Entomology of the U. S. 

 Department of Agriculture. Preliminary accounts of investigations of this pest 

 by Thomas (E. S. R., 25, p. 560) and by Conradi (E. S. R., 30, p. 545) have 

 been previously noted, as have studies of Monoerepidius vespertinus by Eager- 

 ton (E. S. R., 33, p. 63), which is associated with and often mistaken for 

 this species. 



This species is always found on upland sandy soil and apparently can not 

 live in soil through which the water does not percolate rapidly. Its injury is 

 occasioned through cutting off the feeding roots of plants. Practically all farm 

 crops are attacked, including corn, cotton, cowpeas, oats, rye, peanuts, tobacco, 

 watermelons, etc. The pest has spread from near Snider's Cross Roads, where 

 it was first noticed, until an area of 200 square miles in that vicinity is more 

 or less severely infested. The greatest loss occasioned has been near Snider's 



