ECONOMIC ZOOLOGY ENTOMOLOGY. 61 



the fall of 1912 of its distribution, life history, and habits. In that year it 

 was found to infest both wild and cultivated papayas as far north as Miami 

 from which it has since spread northward to Palm Beach, where in 1914 it 

 was reported as having boon very destructive. It was also found to infest 

 the papaya on the island of New Providence which lies some 200 miles east 

 of Miami. Earlier records show it to occur in Yucatan, Costa Rica, Panama, 

 Porto liico, island of St. Jean, and several South American countries. Techni- 

 cal descriptions are given of its several stages. 



" To determine the amount of infestation in the wild fruits of different sizes 

 or ages, an examination was made of small fruits about 0.75 in. in diameter, 

 medium-sized fruits, and large ripe fruits. Out of 208 small fruits, 41 showed 

 infestation, and 167, or SO per cent, were sound. Out of 52 medium-sized fruits 

 26, or 50 per cent, were free from infestation. Examination of 25 nearly ripe 

 fruits showed that none were sound. Again, in a miscellaneous lot of 63 

 fruits, 32 or over 50 per cent, were infested. In general, small or young 

 fruit is much less infested than the older fruit, the flies evidently selecting the 

 larger and more mature fruits for ovipositiOn." 



The occurrence of dead full-grown larvae in fruits externally sound le/i to 

 the discovery that contact with the juice of the imripe fruit is quickly fatal 

 to the larvse. 



Observations of the pupal period made in the cool season of the year show 

 a variation of from 30 to 42 days. 



The means of control that now seem valuable are the production of varieties 

 of papaya that have thick meat and that ripen slowly, and the destruction 

 of adventitious or wild papaya plants and of all infested fruits. 



An account of studies of this pest in Porto Rico has been previously noted 

 (E. S. R., 29, p. 652). 



Mosquitoes and malaria, C. W. Stiles {Puh. Health Rpts. [U. S.] 29 (1914), 

 No. SO, pp. 2301-2311). — The results of an inspection of both rural and municipal 

 communities in eastern North Carolina emphasize the necessity of removing 

 or destroying mosquito-breeding places such as tin cans, boxes, buckets, and 

 other receptacles capable of holding water. 



The behavior of the parasite of Indian kala-azar in tlie dog flea, Cteno- 

 cephalus felis, with some remarks on canine kala-azar and its relation to 

 the human disease, W. S. Patton (Indian Jour. Med. Research, 2 (1914), No. 1, 

 pp. 399-403). — "The parasite of Indian kala-azar does not develop in the dog 

 flea, C. fcIis, but degenerates and disappears in eight hours. This together 

 with the fact that the dog has not been found infected with kala-azar, or 

 perhaps to be exact herpetomoniasis, in India, strongly supports the view that 

 human kala-azar is not of canine origin. The human flea, Piilex irritans, has 

 not been found in ^Madras." 



A bacterial disease of the larvae of the June beetle, Lachnosterna spp., 

 Zae Northrup (Michigan 8ta. Tech. Bui. 18 (1914), pp. 5-87, figs. 23).— This 

 bulletin deals with a disease of white grubs, particularly prevalent during the 

 season of 1912, which is caused by a new species of Micrococcus found micro- 

 scopically in smears and in sections from diseased tissue, and in almost pure 

 culture on agar plates made from diseased portions of the living grub. This 

 micrococcus, which seems to enter the class with Micrococcus hwmorrhagicus 

 and has been named M. nigrofaciens, is frequently accompanied by a gas-produc- 

 ing bacillus from which it is separated with difficulty. 



" The micrococcus exists in soil and is present in many soils in Michigan, 

 Illinois, Maryland, North Carolina, and most probably in other States and coun- 

 tries. This micro-organism grows well on ordinary media, but much better on 



