14 THE EEPOKT OF THE Xo. 36 



EEPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIEY OF ONTARIO TO 

 THE EOYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA. 



F. J. A. MoRKis, Peterborough. 



■ I have the honour to present a report of the Entomological Society of Ontario 

 for the year 1915-1916. 



The Society continues to flourish; its growth in the short interval since our 

 Jubilee Year has been remariable, and to a close observer will reveal a most 

 healthy condition — deepening as it broadens; this vertical growth (marked by a 

 greater intensity of Avork) is even more vital than the lateral expansion of the 

 Society over a wider field. 



The branching tendency of the parent stem is amply evidenced both west and 

 east; for in the still young B.C. branch there has been dichotomy into branchlets 

 at Victoria and Vancouver, Avhile in Nova Scotia an entirely new and vigorous 

 branch has lately thrust forth. Both these extensions are due to members of the 

 Society employed in the work of economic entomology : ]\Ir. Treherne in the west 

 and Dr. Brittain in the east. 



There can be no question that the Society owes its present exuberance in very 

 great measure to the comparatively recent institution of our Agricultural Colleges 

 and the giant strides over the Dominion, in the last decade, of Economic En- 

 tomology. The scientific training in biology, acquired by a whole army of field 

 officers and other Government employes in connection with Agriculture, enaliles 

 these young and energetic students of nature to grapple with problems in insect 

 anatomy and physiology, in life-hi'itories, in systematic and descriptive work that 

 would baffie, should they ever confront, the amateur. And these graduates are 

 called to the most distant and diverse fields of lal)our. 



All this is clearly reflected in the pages of our :nagazine: every month shows 

 work of permanent value in economic entomology, and articles that may fairly 

 claim the title of monographs in many special departments of the Science, articles 

 coming from writers in all parts of the Dominion and beyond. 



It is worthy of note how many contributors to our Ontario magazine are dis- 

 tinguished authorities of the U.S.A.— some of them men of world-wide reputation. 

 Insects, of course, are -too doggedly cosmopolitan to be daunted by the immi- 

 gration oflicer, Avhether clearly undesirables or belonging only, like the rest of us, 

 to the great class of those who have not yet been found out. Under these con- 

 ditions our Science knows no artificial boundary and will not be so confined. But 

 it has often been remarked by members of the Society, and at our annual meeting 

 last November, where it found ample illustration, it drew a comment from the 

 guest of honour. Dr. Fernald, of Amherst, ]\Iass., how cordial are the relations of 

 give-and-take in Entomology between the United States and Canada. 



Obviously, in the borderland, steps taken by one country's Government to 

 control insect pests, benefit the other ; but it is not in economic work only that these 

 friendly relations are found to subsist. Many of the finest articles contrilnited 

 to the " Canadian Entomologist " by specialists over the line, have reference to 

 rare, entirely new, or hitherto unrecorded captures made within our l)orders 

 by Canadian meml)ers of the Society, and sent for determination to recognized 

 masters of the craft. 



Among contributions of iiiiportance from native pens may be mentioned 

 articles by the emeritus editor, Dr. Bethune ; the editor. Dr. AYalker ; the Dominion 



