1058 



INSECTS ETC. IXJIRIOXts TO \ARIOUS CROPS 



nothis pilleriana ; against aphids, fungi with external mycelium 

 (oidium) and the external fructifications of the fungi. The writer's 

 experience was confined to the summer generation of CoiicJiylis a.nd Poly- 

 chrosis, especially their eggs. Experiments were carried out both in the 

 fields and the laboratory, chiefly with water at S^^-^b^C. The results ob- 

 tained lead to the conclusion that the proposed sprayings with hot water 

 only, at such a temperature that it cannot injure the plant (i) are almost 

 entirely ineffective against the eggs of Polychrosis and Conchylis. The ■ 

 effectiveness against the larva is very doubtful. In any case they could 

 hardly be reached, being sheltered in the floral buds or even inside the 

 grapes. Only an immersion for lo minutes in water at 65*' C. (probably 

 even only at 55*^), is found sufficient to sterilise the eggs. It does not 

 appear possible to make any practical application of this result. 



830 -Bridge Grafting for saving Fruit Trees with Injuries due to Animals or Mechani- 

 cal Causes. — Sw- A'o. 758 of this Bulletin. 



831 - Triaenodes bicolor and Hydrocampa nymphaeata in the Rice Fields 



of the Province of Milan, Italy. — Supino F. in RaiMconti del Reale Istituto Lombardc 

 di Scicnzc e Lcttcrc, Series II, Vol. XI^IX, Parts II-III, pp. 108-114. Milan, 1916. 



The study carried out in the rice fields of the environs of Milan in rela- 

 tion to the aquatic larvae which, according to farmers, caused more or less 

 injury to rice, proved the existence of three different insects : Stratiomys 

 chamaleon L., an absolutely harmless dipteron, and two injurious species, 

 Tnaenodes bicolor Curt, and Hydrocampa [Nymphula) nymphaeata L- 



Triaenodes bicolor (order Neuroptera, sub-order Trichoptera, family 

 lyCptoceridae) . — The larva of this insect cuts the leaves of aquatic plants 

 for use as a sheath or cover and in the rice fields uses the rice leaves for that 

 purpose, partly destroying them. 



Hydrocampa [Nymphula) nymphaeata (order Lepidoptera, family Py- 

 ralidae, sub-family Hydrocampinae [Nymphulinae]). — This is one of the 

 rare lepidoptera the larvae of which live in water; this larva also cuts the 

 leaves to make a sheath for itself ; but what is more important and renders 

 it more injurious than that of the Triaenodes, is that it attacks not only the 

 rice leaves, but also the young plants, feeding on them. 



For control, it is advised to put carp in the rice field. They destroy 

 a large number of the larvae, as was ascertained several times with certainty. 



832 - Tychius quinquepunctatus, a Coleopterous Pest of Beans in Apulia, Italy. 



— G. Grandi, in Z?o//t'//mo del Laboratorio di Zoologia generale ed axmria della R. Scuola 

 superiore d'A'^ricnlHira in Portici, Vol. X, pp. 103-119, Fig. 1-6. Porticd, March 18, 1916. 



In April 191 5, there was an extensive invasion of Tychius quinque- 

 punctatus L-, in the bean fields of the commune of Ruvo di Puglia. The 

 advdts feed on the parenchyma of the soft leaves and young pods of the bean. 

 Mating occurs in the first half of April, and the females oviposit in a hole or 

 tunnel previously bored with their rostra in the wall of the pod. As soon 



(i) Tests have shown that on thoroughly wet leaves with water at <i.=i"C., burns are produced 

 on the young and even on the adult leaves. (iid.) 



