1915 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 97 



EXPERIMENTS WITH POISONED BRAN BAITS FOR LOCUST 

 CONTROL IN EASTERN CANADA. 



Arthur Gibson^ Chief Assistant Entomologist, Department of Agri- 

 culture, Ottawa. 



During 1914 Ave had an opportunity of testing out on a fairly large scale the 

 value in Eastern Canada, of the Kansas formula for the destruction of locusts.* 

 This formula which was originally experimented with by Mr. F. B. Milliken, when 

 employed by the Kansas Experiment Stationf consists of: 



Bran 20 lbs. 



Paris green, or white arsenic 1 lb. 



Syrup (molasses) 2 qts. 



Oranges or lemons 3 fruits. 



Water SVa gals. 



In preparing the bran mash, mix the bran and Paris green, or white arsenic, 

 thoroughly in a wash tub while dry. Squeeze the juice of the oranges or lemons 

 into the water, and chop the remaining pulp and the peel to fine bits and add them 

 to the water. Dissolve the syrup in the water and wet the bran and poison with 

 the mixture, stirring at the same time so as to dampen the mash thoroughly. 



Bran and Paris green with sweetened water had, of course, been previously 

 used in the United States, as well as in Canada, for the destruction of locusts. 

 In Fletcher's reports as Entomologist and Botanist to the Dominion Experimental 

 Farms, frequent reference is made of the success obtained in the use of bran 

 poisoned with Paris green. Near Douglas, Man.,§ where an application was made, 

 he records having counted 117 dead locusts in 18 inches square. In 1901, Mr. 

 Norman Griddle, now Field Officer of the Entomological Branch, co-operatively 

 with the farmers in his immediate district used large quantities of bran and Paris 

 green and enormous numbers of grasshoppers were killed. In the same year he 

 tested out on a large scale the value of horse manure as a substitute for bran and 

 this was found to be a decidedly better remedy. The day after the first application 

 an average of 25 dead locusts was found to the square foot, while many more were 

 dying. 



Bran and arsenic have also been used in the control of locusts for many years. 

 In 1885, Coquillett used a mixture of arsenic, sugar, and bran, to which was added 

 a sufficient quantity of water to make a wet mash. This mixture was experimented 

 with in California where about 300 acres of orchard and vineyard were treated, 

 and in about two weeks after the application scarcely a living locust was to be seen, 

 the ground in many places being covered with the dead insects. In 1888, bran, 

 sugar and arsenic were used by Fletcher at Ottawa and large numbers of locusts 

 were killed. 



The results of the experiments conducted in Kansas in 1913 showed con- 

 clusively that the addition of the fruit — oranges or lemons — made the bait more 

 attractive and appetizing, and consequently was eaten by more of the locusts. 

 Prof; Dean, Entomologist, Kansas State Agricultural College and Experiment 



*The species chiefly responsible for the destruction to crops was the Lesser Migratory 

 Locust, Melanoplus ailanis. Associated with It, however, to a comparatively slight 

 extent, was the Pellucid Locust, Camnula pellucida. 



fFor an account of this work see "Grasshopper Oontrol in Western Kansas," by 

 Geo. A. Dean, in Journal of Economic Entomology, Feb'y, 1914, p. 67. 



§ Report Ent. and Botanist, Dom. Exp. Farms, 1901, p. 223. 



