190S 



ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



41 



The only other serious pest noticed attacking garden vegetables was the Potato Beetle (Dory- 

 phora 10-Uneata, Say), which occurred in distressingly large numbers on potatoes, though 

 tomatoes as far as the writer observed were pretty free from them. 



An insect injurious to shrubs and shade-trees which seems to be on the increase lately is 

 Ormcnis prnijwsa, a large stoutly-built leafhopper resembling a small bluish grey moth. I 

 first noticed them in large numbers in 1901 on some shrubs which were planted in the spring 

 of the same year. This year they were everywhere and showed themselves to be possessed of 

 by no means a restricted appetite. While most abundant on the Virginia creeper and grape- 

 vine they were common on many other shrubs and trees, etc., such as the elm, maple, bass- 

 wood, gooseberry, almond, Tartarian honeysuckle and rhubarb. The larvis are whitish 

 creatures not much like the adults in appearance, and have the habit of arranging themselves in 

 irregular rows along the smaller branches and twigs, the whole aggregation being partly 

 enveloped in a white flocculent material. The full-grown insects were first observed towards 

 the end of July and remained until the beginning of October. Late in September they could 

 be seen resting on the trunks of almost every shade tree except horse chestnuts, upon which 

 they were very scarce and were probably accidental. 



Among the insects which were abundant last year but have not been troublesome this 

 season the Birch Bucculatrix {BticculatrLc Canadensisella) is noteworthy. The trees have been 

 quite healthy the whole of this year, though in May I noticed that some of them were rather 

 badly infested with a large species of aphid. Butterflies on the whole have been scarce 

 according to the statements of local collectors, and two of our most destructive grasshoppers 

 Melanoplvs atlanis and Gamnula pellucida were not nearly so numerous as usual, probably 

 owing to the wet season, since both species thrive best in hot dry weather. 



Division No. 5 — London District. By J. A. Balkwill. 

 I am very happy to report that we have not had any insect visitations of a serious nature 



in this district during the past season. 



Last winter my attention was called to some 



larva} which were doing considerable injury 



to hayMn barns in a part of London Township. 



They were so plentiful that I collected over 30 



of them from a small handful of hay, and Mr. 



Moffat kindly identified them as the Dry Clover 



Moth (Asopia costalis), Fig. 29. By spinning their 



webs over the stems of the hay, they made it so 



unpleasant that horses and cattle did not care to 



eat it, and it thus caused a serious loss to thise in 



whose barns it was found. 



In August, during our 

 Horticultural Society's 



Flower Show, Mr. Butler, St. George Street, London, asked me if I 

 knew a beetle that attacked the asparagus ; from his description I 

 suspected that it was new, and therefore asked him to bring me some 

 of them, which he did the next day. On shewing them to Dr. Bethune, 

 who is always willing to oblige, he identified them as the Asparagus 

 beetle Crioceris IS-punctata (Fig. 30). This, I think, is the first 

 record of this insect for the London district. 



The Oodling Moth has not been as much in evidence this season 

 as formerly, no doubt caused by the cold, wet weather, and this, I 



think, is the reason that insects in general have not been so plentiful 



Fig. 30. 12-Spotted Asparagus , ., ^ , ' 



Beetle (gjeatly magnified). as usual. mosquitoes excepted. 



Clover Moths, Caterpillars and Chrysalis. 



