1908 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 11 



cocoons because in adjoining private grounds tlie trees were infested with 

 them, and the owners took no trouble to check their increase. 



Our new Commissioner, Mr. Wilson, is getting a by-law passed to 

 enable him to collect the cocoons on private grounds, as well as on the 

 streets, and he has a grant of |5,000 for the work this winter; so we may 

 expect to see some decided improvement in a year or two, if the work is 

 thoroughly carried out. 



Last year there was an almost total absence of Walking Stick Insects 

 ( Diapheromera femorata), in Niagara Glen, but this year they again 

 appeared in countless hosts; some trees were quite stripped of their foliage 

 by them, and they kept falling in numbers on the heads and shoulders of 

 any passers-by in parts of the Glen where they were most numerous. Prob- 

 ably the cold weather in May and June last year prevented the eggs from 

 hatching, and so they all lay over until the second year, as they are some- 

 times known to do, and then produced an especially numerous and voracious 

 crop of Walking-sticks. 



Division No. 4 — East York District. By C. W. Nastt, Toronto. 



In April last I attended two meetings of Horticulturists at Oakville. 

 At these meetings the insect pests which infested the orchards of the vicinity 

 were thoroughly discussed. Among those mentioned as being particularly 

 destructive was the Tree Cricket. This insect is now very abundant in rasp- 

 berry plantations and was said to do more harm in that locality than any 

 other pest they had. Raspberry growers in other districts should be on 

 their guard against this Cricket for where it becomes established it is some- 

 what difficult to control and it is capable of doing much mischief. 



Although the early spring was cold and apparently unfavorable to insect 

 life yet, when on April 12th I was cleaning up my garden, I found that under 

 the shelter of the dead leaves which laid thickl;/ over the flower beds, many 

 forms were snugly and safely tucked away, waiting for warmth and sun- 

 shine to start them upon their summer activities. At the base of some of my 

 shrubs small adult Lady beetles were very abundant ; these I was not sur- 

 prised to find, for like many others of their order, they hibernate in the 

 adult stage, but when clearing up some hardy carnation plants, I was not 

 only surprised but somewhat disgusted at finding upon them a large num- 

 ber of nearly full grown wingless green Aphids. That many species of 

 Aphids hatch early and grow rapidly, I am well aware but this was the first 

 time I had ever seen lively well-grown specimens flourishing when sur- 

 rounded with ice crystals, upon plants which were still saturated with water 

 from melting snow. 



On May 5th from beneath a heap of dead leaves I raked out a hand- 

 some Red Admiral butterfly. It was living but very listless and weak. 



Although for several years I have kept a sharp lookout, east of Toronto, 

 for the Red Asparagus beetle I did not find it. This year, however, it 

 appeared and by the end of the season outnumbered in some places the com- 

 mon Blue species. Both forms were abundant on the plants at the same 

 time. The Red is much the more active of the two, flying off instantly when 

 an attempt is made to capture it. 



The Hunting Beetles (Calosoma) appeared to be much more abundant 

 this year than usual, C . calidum, especially being particularly common about 

 the end of June. 



Cosmopepla carnifex, which for the past three years had been steadily 

 increasing in number, was entirely absent ; I did not see one anywhere during 

 the whole season. The Rose Beetle, too, has disappeared. This I can 



