1910 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 65 



The oak trees in the neighborhood of the town of Gait have been stripped of 

 their foliage both this year and last by the caterpillars of the Senatorial Moth 

 (Anisota senatoria) ; the attack has been going on for four years and must result 

 in serious injury to the trees if nature's checks do not soon come to the rescue. 

 The caterpillars, when full-grown — which they were after the middle of Septem- 

 ber — are black with four ochre-yellow stripes along the back and two on each 

 side. On each segment of the body there are six black spines or prickles, and 

 behind the head two long slender horns projecting out on either side. The cater- 

 pillars feed together in great swarms, several hundred on a branch, and devour 

 the foliage, beginning at the end of the twigs and moving downwards till they 

 have completely stripped off all the leaves; then they move on to another limb. 

 When at rest they huddle together in masses and if disturbed raise the fore part 

 of the body and shake their heads in a threatening manner. They make no webs 

 or cocoons, but descend into the ground to pupate and remain buried in the soil 

 till the following June; the chrysalids then work their way to the surface and 

 the moths emerge to lay their eggs and provide for a new generation. The eggs 

 are laid in large clusters on the underside of oak leaves near the tips of the 

 branches and the young caterpillars are hatched during the month of August. 

 The moths are handsome creatures, ochre-yellow in colour with a shading of 

 reddish-purple on the front and hind margins of the wings; an oblique narrow 

 purple-brown band crosses the wings, and near the middle of each there is a con- 

 spicuous round white spot. The male moth is much smaller than the female 

 and more tinged with purple, the expanded wings measuring about an inch and 

 three-quarters; the female moth is fully two and a half inches in expanse, and 

 often is entirely yellowish with no tinge of red or purple. 



During the height of summer and throughout the autumn season numerous 

 complaints have come in from many parts of the Province respecting White-ginibs 

 and Wireworms. The former have been more than usually abundant this year 

 and have caused a great deal of loss by their attacks upon the roots of corn, grain 

 of various kinds, strawberries, etc. The most remarkable and uncommon attack 

 has been upon the tubers of potatoes, in which they have bored great holes and 

 rendered them unfit for marketing or table use. Generally they feed upon the 

 fibrous roots, but this year their numbers were so great that after consuming these 

 the only food for them was the potato itself. As I have stated in the Ontario 

 Crop Bulletin for November: "White grubs are the larvae of what are familiarly 

 known as May beetles or June bugs. They breed for the most part in old pas- 

 tures and require three years to attain to maturity. Crops that are planted when 

 an infested field has been broken up are usually attacked by these grubs. During 

 the first year they feed to some extent upon the remains of the sod that has been 

 turned under, but during the second year, there being nothing else, they attack the 

 roots of whatever crop there may be. The best remedy for them is a short 

 rotation of crops, so that there will be no time allowed for their attaining maturity. 

 An infested field may be fairly cleared of them by permitting hogs to roam about; 

 they will root the grubs up and eagerly devour them. Late plowing is desirable 

 in order to break up iheir winter quarters and expose them to the weather and 

 their various enemies. Working underground as they do, it is not practicable to 

 apply any poisonous remedies. Dependence must be placed upon the methods 

 referred to." 



Wireworms, the larvae of Click-beetles (Elateridse), have a somewhat simi- 

 lar life-history to that of the White Grubs, except that the beetles pass the winter 

 under the shelter of rubbish, tufts of grass, etc., and appear during the first warm 



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