40 



REPORT 



ON 



SOME OF OUR FRDIT INSECT ENEMIES, 



FOR 1877. 



BY B. GOTT, ARKONA, ONT. 



It was with much pleasure and satisfaction tliat I was able to be present for the first 

 time at our Society's annual meeting, last September, in London, Ont., I then and there 

 imbibed deeper and wider ideas of the extent and importance of the work in which our 

 entomologists are so ardently and devotedly engaged, I also had an opportunity of per- 

 sonal acquaintance with the characters and qualifications of the men who are the founda- 

 tion and the noble pillars of the Society. The men then present were practical and in- 

 telligent, and the earnest sympathy they showed in the work and objects of the Society, 

 could not be otherwise than encouraging to those engaged in this interesting and service- 

 able study. It is not easy to conceive how any people possessing and supporting such a 

 Society, whose work and results are so palpable to the masses, can be otherwise than 

 progressive ; and as far as their productive results are concerned, every way prosperous- 

 Should we not desire that the effective membership of the Society may largely increase, 

 and that thus the educating and elevating influences of the study may be extended, and 

 felt to be not only an assistance but a powerful helper of the people through the length 

 and breadth of the land. In my own individual case I find my interest in the subject of 

 entomology annually deepening and widening in proportion to the extent in which my 

 attention is directed to it. Since being engaged to some extent as I have been for the 

 last few years in the critical but interesting production and cultivation of fruit in this 

 western part of Ontario ; I found from the very start that something more was necessary 

 to success than a mere knowledge of the theory of production. I found insect enemies 

 to contend with, for which, in my ignorance, I had made but little or no provision. My 

 combativeness was at once aroused ; but finding progress in a hand to hand fight very 

 slow, and not very encouraging or satisfactory, I began to reflect that prudence was the 

 better part of valour, and I at once set myself bravely to the task of arriving at some 

 knowledge of their differences, their habits, their possible numbers, and their possible 

 use ; with also some data for successful competition. I have not advanced far, but I soon 

 found that my opportunities, my samples and specimens were not scarce, especially in 

 our summer and growing season, and that their diflerences and peculiarities were very 

 interesting, and their numerical forces sometimes appalling. Some were feeding voraci- 

 ously on a specific plant, shrub, or tree, or on a class of these ; and others were feeding 

 as voraciously on their opposites. Some were most injurious and destructive in their im- 

 mature state, and others needed the complete forces of maturity to do the same amount 

 of effective execution ; some were most active in their destructive work on the roots in 

 the ground, some were content with the leaves, and yet others were satisfied with noth- 

 ing of less value than the fruit. So I concluded that insect depredators were not wanting 

 more or less for everything that grows. It would almost appear too, that we have pe- 

 culiar local insect troubles, as though special and individual classes of insects were local- 

 ized and restricted to sectional divisions; but by further acquaintance with the subject, I 

 must suppose this can hardly be. However, it is beyond dispute, and capable of most 

 positive and convincing proof, that in this department of natural research there is much 

 to be studied and much to be learned ; there is ample and profitable room for the intel- 

 lect, and investigation of the most vigilant and the most penetrating. 



Moreover, what abundant cause have we for gratitude and thankfulness to those patient^ 

 honoured, and great names whose owners have worked hard and long, and spent their valu- 



