298 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 10 



Scientific Notes 



The Angoumois grain moth {Sitotroga cerealella Oliv.) is the subject of much com- 

 plaint, especially in Pennsylvania, in York county, injury being chiefly to wheat. 



Wanted: Specimens of CEstridse. Dr. C. H. T. Townsend has under way a spe- 

 cial study of the CEstrid flies. He is especially desirous of obtaining specimens of the 

 larvae of any species of Cephenomyia which, as is well known, are found more or less 

 commonly in the nasal passages of deer. It is requested that the Bureau agents ob- 

 tain specimens of these larvae either themselves or through friends for Dr. TowTisend's 

 work. 



An Illustration of the Importance of Quarantine against Injurious Insects. Early 

 in 1914, Mr. E. C. Green, an American engaged in the encouragement of cotton cul- 

 ture by the Brazihan government, made a careful survey of the cotton belt of Brazil. 

 He was looking especially for the boll wee\al and the pink bollworm. Neither insect 

 was found in the comse of considerable travel and extensive examinations of seed. 

 Late in 1916 Mr. Green made another trip over the same territory and found that the 

 pink bollworm was generally and thoroughly estabUshed. The way in which the 

 insect was introduced is clear: In 1913 the BraziUan government agitated the cul- 

 tivation of Egyptian cotton in that coimtry. An agent was sent to Egypt and large 

 quantities of seed were shipped to Brazil. No precautions were taken as to the seed 

 obtained, and it was all admitted to Brazil without fumigation or other treatment. 

 The BraziUan goverment has inspectors located in every state capital. The seed 

 was distributed to these inspectors and in turn by them to local representatives. 

 This was probably as thorough a method of desseminating an insect as is possible. 

 The Brazihan government now reahzes what has been done and various senators 

 seriously consider an enactment requiring the burning of all the cotton fields in the 

 RepubUc. 



Monthly Letter, Bureau of Entomology, February, 1917. 



Controlling the Cottony Cushion Scale in New Orleans. The November Monthly 

 Letter of the Bureau of Entomologj^ gives a short account of a citizens' meeting at 

 Tulane University in New Orleans to consider a campaign against the cottony cushion 

 scale. The committee appointed by the president of the Academy of Sciences, under 

 whose auspices the meeting was called, presented the matter to Mayor Behrman of 

 New Orleans, Director Dodson of the Experiment Stations, and Mr. Alexander, in 

 charge of the State Conservation Commission, and urged sufficient appropriations 

 for a campaign in rearing and distributing the Austrahan lady beetle, Novivs cardi- 

 nalis. The result was that the city commission agreed to contribute $2,500 in cash 

 and move a greenliouse from a property recently piu-chased to a convenient situation 

 for the winter rearing of the lady beetles. Professor Dodson, for the Experiment 

 Stations, contributed $500 and an equal amount was obtained from the Conservation 

 Commission, while the State Government appropriated $2,500, making available the 

 total sum of $6,000. The greenhouse has now been erected at the Sugar Experi- 

 ment Station in Audubon Park; which seemed the most suitable place for the work. 

 The rearing of the lady beetles was begun last summer by Mr. E. R. Barber, and is 

 still in his hands, an appeal having been made for an expert by Mayor Behrman to 

 Doctor Howard and Secretary Houston. Specimens of Novius have been obtained 

 from Mr. Harry S. Smith in Cahfornia and Mr. A. C. Mason in Florida, as weU as 

 scales infested with CryptochcBtum (Lestophonus) monophlebi from Mr. Smith. Several 

 colonies of lady beetles have been started, and with the aid of the greenhouse many 

 thousands should be obtained in the near future. 



