ECONOMIC ZOOLOGY — ENTOMOLOGY. 855 



injury to sulla hay in central Italy, has now begun to attack alfalfa hay in the 

 Romagna, the larvse destroying the leaves almost completely, leaving only the 

 stems with a few petioles. In an average attack, or when the hay does not 

 consist entirely of alfalfa, the loss is at least 20 per cent and it may reach 

 50 or 60 per cent. Carbon bisulphid has not been found effective for disinfect- 

 ing the hay stacks, and the author rocommonds that when a stack is attacked 

 it be fed as quickly as possible to prevent the development of the larvje. 



The Chelonia caterpillars, F. Picard {Prog. Agr. et Vit. (Ed. VEst-Centre), 

 35 (1914), No. 9, pp. 261-266, pi. i).— This paper relates largely to Arctia or 

 Chelonia caja, a widespread pest, and its natural enemies. 



Tapinostola musculosa, a noctuid moth injurious to cereals in Hungary, 

 J. Jablonowsky (Kozetelek [Budapest}, 23 {1913), No. 99, pp. 3335-^337, figs. 

 3; aJ)s. in Internat. Inst. Agr. [Rome], Mo. Bui. Agr. Intel, and Plant Diseases, 

 5 {1914), No. 2, p. 285). — This cutworm was the source of damage to oats and 

 barley on an estate in Hungary, some 40 acres being so badly infested that the 

 crops had to be plowed under. 



The flight of the house fly, E. Hindle (Proa. Cambridge Phil. Soc., 11 {19 W, 

 No. 4, pp. 310-313). — "House flies tend to travel either against or across the 

 wind. This direction may be directly determined by the action of the wind, 

 or indirectly, owing to the flies being attracted by any odors it may convey 

 from a source of food. The chief conditions favoring the dispersal of flies are 

 fine weather and a warm temperature; the nature of the locality is another 

 considerable factor, as in towns flies do not travel as far as in open country, 

 this being probably due to the food and shelter afforded by the houses. 



" Under experimental conditions, the height at which the flies are liberated 

 and also the time of day influence the dispersal of the insects. When set free 

 in the afternoon they do not scatter so well as when liberated in the morning. 

 From our experiments the usual maximum flight in thickly housed localities 

 seems to be about a quarter of a mile, but in one case a single fly was recovered 

 at a distance of 770 yds. It should be noted, however, that part of this dis- 

 tance was across open fen land." 



The cambium miner in river birch, C. T. Greene ( U. S. Dept. Agr.,. Joiir. 

 Agr. Research, 1 {1914), No. 6, pp. 471-474, pis. ^).— The dipterous species 

 Agromyza pruinosa, unlike most other members of the Agromyzidse, has the 

 habit of mining in the cambium of the living tree, the mine leaving a scar 

 known as a " pithray fleck." Investigations in Europe have shown that at 

 least the pith-ray fleck in birch is caused by A. carbonaria, which is closely 

 related to the species here considered. The work of A. pruinosa is said to be 

 very common in river birch in the District of Columbia, every tree that was 

 examined in one locality in 1912 containing new work. The work of the species 

 found in wild cherry is said to be identical with that in red maple and black 

 birch. The trees attacked are apparently healthy and infested ones can not 

 be detected by their outward appearance, the removal of the bark and exposure 

 of the cambium being the only way in which this can be done. Pith-ray 

 flecks were also found in red oak {Querciis rubra) at Charter Oak, Pa., and 

 in mountain holly (Ilex monticola) at Endeavor, Pa., but the insect or insects 

 concerned have not been determined. 



Brief descriptive accounts are given of the morphology and biology of the 

 several stages of this miner. The egg is apparently deposited in the fork of 

 two branches. A hymenopterous parasite, Sympha agromyza' n. sp.. a brief 

 description of which by S. A. Rohwcr is given in a footnote, issued from a pupa 

 case of A. pruiiwsa. The egg of this paraste is said to be deposited within the 

 egg of the host. The apparently normal dipterous larva mines down the tree 



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