1912 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 63 



Occurring with the Ghrysohothris in the balsam poplar and also in the large- 

 toothed aspen were a good many specimens of a very long, slender Agrilus-like 

 Buprestid larva, which I have not yet had determined. The galleries of the larva 

 were likewise slender and extended regularly with the growth of the grub. They 

 generally followed an exceedingly tortuous course. The grubs were fully as nu- 

 merous where found as the Chrysobothris. Many young specimens of the latter 

 were also taken from a small ehn, which had been uprooted in the storm. 



Of the larger trees none suffered in the storm so severely as the basswood. 

 -The few remaining trees of the original forest were practically all laid low. Many 

 of these were rotten at the centre and some weakened by carpenter ants, but, except 

 in one tree, I found scarcely any evidence of the recent work of borers. In one 

 fairly large tree, however, I found many half grown cerambycid larvae, possibly 

 those of the linden borer (Saperda vestita, Say), and two scolytid mines, contain- 

 ing larvae, and one of them a single adult. This was submitted to Prof. Swaine, 

 who reports it to be a new species of Ilylesinus, related to the western H. aspericolUs- 



In conclusion I wish to express my sincere thanks to Prof. Swaine for his 

 kindness in determining for me the species of Scolytidae mentioned in this paper. 



THEIPS AFFECTING OATS. 

 C. Gordon Hewitt^ D.Sc.^ Dominion Entomologist, Ottawa. 



Eeference was made by me at our last annual meeting to the injuries caused 

 to oats by some species of Thrips and as further observation have been made 

 during the past season concerning the injuries of these insects, it seemed to me 

 that a useful purpose might be served if tliis subject were discussed a little more 

 fully. 



During the last year or two we have received frequent -inquiries regarding the 

 " blighted " appearance of the heads of oats and a number of specimens were re- 

 ceived, in one or two of which dead Thrips were found, but it was impossible to 

 determine the species with certainty. The injuries were reported from various 

 provinces from Nova Scotia in the east to British Columbia in the west. A cor- 

 respondent on Vancouver Island stated that over 50 per cent of a fourteen-acre 

 field of oats were attacked. On some heads of oats received from Saskatchewan, 

 from 50 to 70 per cent, of the ears were destroyed, and generally it would appear 

 that the injuries are on the increase. During a visit to Washington early in the 

 year Mr. F. M. Webster, of the Bureau of Entomology, showed me a single record 

 of Thrips attacking oats, the species being Anaphothrips striatus, Osborn. An in- 

 vestigation into these injuries was begun during the present summer, my attention 

 being confined to the oats grown in the seed plots at the Central Experimental Farm 

 at Ottawa, where it was found that the species commonly occurring and obviously 

 responsible for the injury was the Grass Thrips, A. striatus; Dr. W. E. Hinds very 

 kindly confirmed my identification. A second species, Euthrips nervos^s, Uzel, was 

 also found in small numbers. The Grass Thrips commonly attacks Kentucl^ Blue 

 Grass (Poa pratensis), and Dr. Fletcher has recorded in 1882 and 1892 the oc- 

 currence of the " white top," produced by this insect's injuries, in P. pratensis and 

 also in one or two other grasses such as Timothy (Phleum pratense) and Couch 

 Grass {Triticum repens). The investigations showed that the blighted appearance 



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