252 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 14 



in fairly large quantities this coming season from Japan, and extensive 

 rearing work will be undertaken at Riverton with this material. 



BioNOMicAL Investigations 



A preliminary life history study of the insect has already been made 

 and reported on,^ but experience has already indicated the need of a 

 more exhaustive bionomical investigation of the insect. It is natural 

 to suppose that an insect such as the Japanese beetle may accommodate 

 its habits more or less to its environment, and that as it spreads, the 

 rate and direction of the spread v/ill be influenced by environmental 

 conditions. Consequently a more detailed investigation of the bionomics 

 of P. japonica has been commenced, taking up its life history, seasonal 

 history, habits of flight, feeding, and reproduction, present and probable 

 future status as a pest of our principal crops, factors influencing or limit- 

 ing its geographical or climatic range, etc. 



Investigations are also being conducted to determine the effectiveness 

 of cultural methods against the insect. Farm practices now in vogue in 

 this vicinity have failed to reduce infestation to any appreciable 

 extent, and cultural practices commonly recommended have so far 

 apparentl^^ had little influence on the relative abundance of the insect. 



Control Operations 



During the past season a strenuous effort was made to maintain a 

 "barrier band", as described in the paper mentioned earlier.^ Without 

 giving a detailed discussion of the siimmer's work with the barrier band, 

 it is enough to say that while in no case did the beetle succeed in actually 

 working through the band by its own efforts alone, it has spread to such 

 an extent, through artificial agencies, as to make further band work 

 impractical, within a reasonable cost. Therefore this phase of the 

 control work will be dropped. 



Roadside spra}dng with a repellent will be continued along the main 

 roads running through the infested territory. Such cleanup work will 

 be continued as ma^^ be necessary to remove heav}- growth which 

 would hinder the spraying work, and to keep the main roadsides as clean 

 as possible, in order to minimize to the greatest possible extent the fur- 

 ther spread of the insect during its season of flight, through the agency 

 of passing vehicles, pedestrians, and otherwise. 



'Davis, J. J., N. J. Department of Agriculture Circular, 30, 1920. 

 ^Davis, J. J., 1920. 



