1916 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 15 



of insect life. Some orders were relatively poorly represented in the early part 

 of the seaoon, but later on became normally abundant. With the exception of 

 the Cabbage-butterfly, other species were not so common as usual, until about 

 the end of August, when several forms began to appear in larger numbers. At 

 Mt. Dennis, Oct. 11th, many specimens of Milbert's Tortoise-shell, Vanessa milberti 

 Godart, were flitting about or resting upon the heads of the large purple aster, 

 the flower and insect combination adding a pleasing touch of color to the other- 

 wise rather sombre tints of the frost-touched vegetation. After about the middle 

 of July the Baltimore, Melitaea phaeton Drury, was fairly plentiful. As a general 

 rule, both of these species are comparatively rare in this district. 



The damage done this year by several injurious insects has been more pro- 

 nounced than usual. 



At the beginning of the season, the webs of the Tent caterpillars were fre- 

 quently seen on the Choke Cherries and other native trees of the fence rows and 

 thickets in the vicinity of the city. Erom complaints received from fruit growers, 

 it would seem that this pest has lost none of its wonted energy, and is still an 

 important issue from an economic standpoint. 



The continuous wet weather is credited by many with the greatly increased 

 activity of the Carrot Eust Fly, Psila rosae. A gardener of many years' experience, 

 who had never noticed the pest before, had his crop completely ruined by its 

 ravages. In some cases the larvae had so tunnelled the carrot that the entire 

 cortex was destroyed; it was impossible to find a single plant that was not 

 attacked. For the benefit of others who may have crops similarly affected, I take 

 the liberty of quoting the directions, kindly sent by Mr. Gibson, for bringing 

 the insect under control. " Protection against the attack of the insect may be 

 obtained, early in the season, at the time the plants are thinned out, by spraying 

 with the ordinary kerosene emulsion, diluted one part in nine of water. Where 

 carrots are stored in sand for winter use, the larvae leave the roots and pupate 

 in the soil. In spring, of course, such sand in which the puparia occur shoulc^ 

 be removed and buried in a deep hole or thrown into a pond. It is wise to 

 use land next year in which the carrots were not grown during the present season." 



Sawfly larvae were received from Mr. Blakely, of the Parks Department, 

 who reported that they were damaging the California poplars in the eastern 

 part of the city. Several trees were attacked by them, and the leaves badly 

 eaten. These larvge^ have a ground colour of yellow, broken by two pairs of 

 lateral rows of black spots. In the upper series, these are irregularly circular 

 in outline; in the lower, while of nearly the same shape, they are much smaller. 

 The vertex of the head is black, shading to a deep brown at the front and sides. 

 All the mouth-parts are yellow, with the exception of the mandibles, which are 

 black. A black spot covers the dorsal portion of the last segment. The whole 

 body bears a covering of long light-yellow hairs. The larvae are gregarious feeders. 

 Mr. S. A. Eohwer, Washington, to whom specimens were sent, writing under 

 date of Sept. 27th, replied as follows: 



" Yours of the 25th instant reached me this morning. The sawfly larvae that 

 you sent cocooned en route, but I do not cloubt in the least that it is Trichiocampus 

 viminalis (Fallen), a species that is treated under the name of Aulacomerus 

 lutescens by Lintner in the fourth report of the State Entomologist of New York, 

 pages 44-46. As far as I am aware, this is the first report of this species being 

 of economic importance. The larvfe cocoon in the leaves, or the cocoon is attached 

 along the trunk of the tree. Lintner found two generations, and this is probably 



