ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF ONTARIO. 19- 



Prof. Saunders, at the Entomological Club of the A.A.A.S, in 1887, reported, 

 "that in the Maritime Provinces, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, he found the larch 

 saw-fly (^Nematus EricJiSonii), extremely abundant and destructive." (Ann. Rept. XVIII., 

 page 31.) 



Mr. Fletcher, in his address as President in 1889, made the followino; brief reftrence 

 to the spread of this pest : "The larch saw-fly was very abundant in the neighborhood 

 of Ottawa, and in fresh districts in the Maritime Provinces ; the tamarack swamps being 

 rendered almost leafless for hundreds of acres." (Ann. Rept. XX., page 3.) 



The Rev. Dr. Bethune, in his address the following year, referred to the species 

 briefly: " The larch saw-fly, to which reference has been made of late years, has not been, 

 nearly so abundant as usual in tho5:e parts of Ontario where it has hitherto prevailed. 

 It is to be hoped that its natural enemies have multiplied to a sufficient extent to keep it 

 in subjection and prevent its undue increase." (Ann. Rept. XXI., page 7.) In 1891 he 

 again stated that it " continues to be very abundant and destructive. Unfortunately it is 

 a kind of attack for which there seems no practicable remedy." (Ann. Rept. XXII.,. 

 page 14.) At this meeting also the Rev. Mr. Fyles presented a valuable paper entitled, 

 '■' Nematus Erichsonii ; a Retrospect" (1. c. page 28,) to which reference will be made pre- 

 sently. ,, 



I have now traced the progress of this obnoxious insect, as recorded in the publica- 

 tions of our society, but a few remarks may be added on its later ravages, and the extent 

 to which it may have permanently injured the tamarack areas of the Dominion. While 

 we have seen that as early as 1883 it had spread through Quebpc, it is probable that it 

 had been in Canada at least a year or two previously, but had only then reached a locality 

 where it came under the notice of an entomologist. 



My own observations along the line of the Intercolonial Railv/ay and the Maritime 

 Provinces, during the period elapsed since the insect was first reported, fully confirm the 

 extent of the injury wrought in the tamarack districts, and the extent to which the trees 

 were killed. Up to 1890, however, the insect had not, as far as I could see, invaded the 

 Island of Cape Breton, but in the autumn of that year I found, not many miles from old 

 historic Louisburg, a single twig with the characteristic twist and the evidence of oviposi- 

 tion, showing that the enemy had crossed the island. I did not find other evidences of its 

 presence, and all the surrounding trees looked most healthy and vigorous. The worms 

 were in this year reported as very abundant in Prince Edward Island. 



The next year I did not visit Cape Breton, but in the beginning of September, 1892, 

 just after our annual meeting of that year, I was in Sydney, and. on driving out through 

 the surrounding country, found that the bv^autiful green tamarack groves and forests, 

 which (with spruce) are in this section of country quite extensive, had the fire-iswept ap- 

 pearance caused by the ravages of the saw- fly, and I was informed that in the previous 

 summer they had been almost as much defoliated. The lower portions of many trees, 

 and small trees had, as elsewhere, partially escaped, but many of the larger trees seemed 

 to be killed. This year the same dreary appearance was observed, and there is no doubt 

 that very serious loss of older trees has been caused. 



Whence came the obnoxious insect which has so devastated and disfigured our beauti- 

 ful woods and by what route did it invade our territories 1 Apparently from Europe, 

 whence have come many of our most injurious insects, and, unfortunately, but few beneficial 

 ones, and probably through the New England States. The first record that I can find of 

 its appearance in the New World is contained in one of Dr. Hagen's " Entomological 

 Notes", (Can. Ent. Vol. XIII., page 37), where he identifies specimens of larvje, received 

 from Harvard Arboretum in 1880, as agreeing perfectly with the description and figure 

 of Nemalus Erlchsonii. Ihese larvfc, it may be added, had been discovered feeding on. 

 European larches, and at first the native larches appear to have escaped. 



In Maine in 1882 the spread of the insect was very extensive, and in the same year 

 it occurred in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and New York, proving that the insects 

 had multiplied and spread with most astonishing rapidity. The United States Entomo- 

 logical Commission made examinations, in this and following years, of the infected dis- 

 tricts, and in its very valuable Report on Insects Injurious to Foi'est and Shade Trees 

 (189G), Dr. Packard gives a full account of the insect and its ravages. In his Report for 



