1560 INSKCTS ETC., IXJURIOITS TO VARIOUS CROPS 



and weeds in the fields, along the roads and in the uncultivated steppes where 

 the insects hibernate ; 2) if the attack is very violent cut the forage earlier 

 to deprive the voracious insect of its favourite food ; 3) catch the insect 

 by means of an ordinary hopperdo/er. 



1 149- The Pepper Tree Caterpillar {Bombycomorpha pallida), a Lepidopteran 

 Pest on the Pseudo-Pepper Tree {Schinus Molle) in the Transvaal. — dunn, d. 



in Union of Soutl; Africa, Department of Af^ricuUure, Division of Entomoln y, No. 4, 

 pp. i-io, I PI. Pretoria, 191 6. 



During the last few summers considerable damage was caused to 

 Schinus Mollc in Pretoria and the surrounding country by the larvae of 

 Bombycomorpha pallida Dist., which feed upon the leaves of this tree. The 

 eggs which are stiick together by a gelatinous substance form a coating 

 round the branches of the plant host 2 or 3 cms. long. The larvae which 

 are all hatched out at the same time have a markedly gregarious tendency, 

 and, having devoured the leaves on which they were born, they prefer to 

 destroy each other, instead of separating and emigrating. Thus canni- 

 balism occurs and brings about the destruction of the smallest and feebl- 

 est specimens. Finally, having exhausted all the possible resources, the 

 larvae emigrate in groups of five or siy to other parts of the. tree and finish 

 stripping oft" its leaves. 



As a means of artificial resistance the following may be u.sed : i) gath- 

 ering the branches on which the larvae occur when all of them may 

 easily be destroyed ; 2) applications of lead arseniate (about 3 lbs in 48 

 gallons of water) ; 3) when the larv^ae are mature they abandon their 

 host and crawl down to the ground, looking for a suitable place in which 

 to pupate : if pieces of cloth, or other material, are placed round the stem 

 the larvae can easil^'^ be caught as they emigrate in great numbers. Thus 

 future infection can be checked. 



1150- Pegomyia hyoscyami, a new Dipteran in the United States, Harmful to 



Spinach and other Plants (i). — Corey, JvN. in journal of Economic Entomolo<iy, 

 Vol. Q, pp. 372-375, Fig. 21. Concord, N. 11., 1916. 



The appearance of an insect which is new to the United States has 

 just been recorded. Tt is Pegomyia hyosciami Van?., whose larvae bore 

 holes and galleries in the thickness of the leaves of Spinacia oleracea, 

 Chenopodium album and Amaranthus retyoflexus. 



The female lays her eggs in a regular row on the under surface of the 

 leaves ; the incubation lasts about four days ; the larvae feed on the leaf 

 tissue and leave only the veining intact. The larval period lasts from 

 15 to 17 days, the pupal state only from 14 to 20 days. 



The only known parasite is Opius joveolatus Ashm. A 5,6 or 7 per 

 cent sohition of barium chloride has been successfully used as a means 

 of destroying the pest. 



(1) Sec alto B. March ii,i_. No. 5S5, ami B l\b. 1913, Xo. 196 (£</•)• 



