1908 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 29 



ernment, is most encouraging. The work of 1907 has been considerably 

 extended in providing larger quarters and a more adequate staff. Further- 

 more, efforts have been made to secure larger sendings from European coun- 

 tries, and a special agent was dispatched to Japan. This latter undertaking 

 has proved most encouraging, in that a large Apanteles and a new egg para- 

 site of the Gipsy Moth have been received from Japan. The Apanteles has 

 been bred through one generation in American caterpillars. The sendings 

 from Japan have, in addition, resulted in the introduction of four species 

 of Tachinidae which promise to be very efficient parasites of the Brown Tail 

 Moth. Marked improvements have been made in methods of handling and 

 rearing parasites and other natural enemies. This latter justifies the expec- 

 tation that it would be practical to breed thousands of the more effective 

 species prior to their being liberated under favorable conditions. This 

 work with the parasites may rightly be considered as most important, owing 

 to the fact that the Gipsy Moth is now so widely established as to render any 

 widespread method of control, aside from that with natural enemies, exceed- 

 ingly costly. . 



There are several fruit tree insects worthy of mention in this connection, 

 though most of them are so well known that comparatively little that is new 

 can be given. The Codling Moth (Carpocapsa iwmoneUa, Linn.) lays heavy 

 tribute upon our fruit growers, causing an annual loss on the apple and pear 

 crop of New York State estimated at |3, 000, 000. The operations of the 

 ^^ pple Worm are too familiar to require description, and the same is true 

 of the characteristic pupal cells found under the bark. The parent insect 

 is less frequently seen and the transparent, whitish e^S^ sometimes deposited 

 upon the fruit and frequently upon the leaf, practically escapes observation. 

 Our fruit growers rely almost entirely on thorough spraying with an 

 arsenical poison, making the application when the green sepals are still 

 open. Arsenate of lead, in the experience of one pear grower at least, has 

 proved much more effective than other poisons in controlling this insect upon 

 that fruit. 



The Cigar Case-bearer (Coleophora Fletcherella, Fern.) has caused much 

 injury to fruit trees in some sections of Western New York. This species 

 appears to be much more destructive in that region than in the Hudson 

 valley. The brown, cigar-like causes are about one-auarter of an inch long and 

 easily recognized by their characteristic form. The young caterpillar, as 

 is well known, eats a little hole into the leaf and then devours the more 

 tender parenchyma lying between the upper and lower epidermis. This 

 habit renders its control somewhat difficult, though an early application of 

 a poison at the time the leaves begin to appear has proved very effective. 



The Blister Mite (Eriophyci^ pj/ri, Nal.) has been unusually destructive 

 in certain orchards in Western New York and its presence has also been 

 noticed in the Hudson valley. The work of this species is quite character- 

 istic though it presents a somewhat superficial resemblance to that of the 

 case bearer mentioned above. The blisters caused by the mite are invariably 

 raised, somewhat thickened, and there is a small, irregular, circular hole 

 near the center of the blister. The venation also disappears in the affected 

 area. These characters serve to separate its work from that of the case 

 bearer mentioned above, while the thickening of the tissues at once differ- 

 entiates it from fungous attack. Spraying in early spring with either a 

 lime-sulphur wash or a whale oil soap solution has proved effective in con- 

 trolling this species. The advisability of making such an application must 

 be determined largely by the abundance of the mite. 



