ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF OXTARIO. 



emerged. At first I took them for the European species, which, however, it is said, also 

 occurs ill this country, but Dr. George H. Horn his kindly identitied them for me as 

 S bituberosa, a native species of the North- West Territories. It is probable that the 

 usual habit of this insect as well as of S. opaca is to feed upon carrion ; but the fact 

 that they occasionally develop a taste for vegetation makes it necessary to be on 

 guard against them. 



Cut-worms were as usual complained of in various districts, the species most 



commonly sent in being Carneades mes- 

 aoria, Harr. (Fig. 1) in onion-beds, C. 

 ocJirogastcr, Gn., omnivorous and Noduo 

 fennica, Tausch, chiefly in clover and pea 

 fields. The easy remedy of wrapping a 

 piece of paper around the stems of freshly 

 planted tomatoes and cabbages is becom- 

 ing very popular amongst those who have 

 tried it. In my own experience i have 

 Fig. 1. found it one of the most satisfactory 



remedies. It is done at the time of plant- 

 ing, is very easy and takes hardly any time. The easiest way is to have a bundle of paper 

 all cut to the right size, about three inches square. Thread these close to one coi'ner on 

 a loop of string and tie this to the basket or box in which the young plants are carried 

 to the field. Before planting a cabbage, pull off one sheet of the iiaper and lay it on the 

 palm of the left hand, then taking the young plant in the right hand place the stem 

 across the paper and close the left hand, this will leave a loose collar of paper around the 

 stem between the top and the root. When planting leave :'bout two inches of the paper 

 above the ground. 



The Turnip Fha On the whole, there have been fewer complaints of the flea beetle 

 (Fig. 2) this season than for many years. The best remedy is to dust the 

 young plants as soon as they appear above the ground with a mixture 

 of land plaster and Paris Green in the projiortion of 25 to one. The 

 land plaster acts as a stimulant to the young plants and soon pushes 

 them past the stage when they are liable to injury from the beetles. 

 The mixture must be perfectly dry. Leaf-hoppers of various kinds have 

 been abundant in some localities and upon various crops. Enithroneura 

 vitis, Harr., the Lraf-hopper of the Vine sometimes called " The Thrip," 

 has been successfully treated upon the Virginia creeper and grape by spraying with 

 Kerosene Emulsion. Another species, Empoa fahx, Harr., has been abundant and 

 injurious upon the English Horse-beans, which are now being extensively grown 

 by farmers for mixing with Indian corn and the seeds of sunflowers in the pre- 

 paration of ensilage, according to the new Robertson combination. The horse-bean 

 seems to be very susceptible to injury from insects. The Empoa above named 

 causes the leaves to turn black and dry up. A large flea-beetle {Systena frontalis, 

 Fab.) also injurel this plant, among several others, by eating the soft tissues of 

 the upper surface of the leaves. The common Red-legged Locust was even more 

 injurious in the same way, and in the North- West Territories, the large and beauti- 

 ful Western Blister-beetle {OaiUharls Nuttalli, Say) entirely defoliated patches of these 

 beans. The sunflower, grown for the see Is, was not without its enemies either — early in 

 the season Out-worms attacked the young seedlings and later the stems of many plants 

 were much weakened by the pith being entirely consumed by the larvse of the beautiful 

 Trypetid fly {Straussia loiigipennis Wied). The female is furnished with a hard ovipositor 

 by means of which she inserts her eggs into the stems while soft and the voung larv;e live in 

 the pith. They pxss the winter as pup;e in the ground and the perfect flies appear in June, 

 when they may be found on Sunflowers and the Jerusalem Artichoke. The fly is deep 

 honey yellow with bright green eyes and has the wings prettily mottled with brown. 

 The season in the Ottawa district has been a particularly wet one and as a consequence 

 some of the usually abundant injurious insects have been conspicious by their absence. Ot 



