February, '13] PARROTT: new destructive insects QZ 



with most of tHe foliage only from one quarter to one half of the leaf 

 is destroyed. The principal damage occurs during the last week of 

 May and the early part of June or about one month before the har- 

 vesting of the fruit. The extent of the damage varies with the season 

 and if new growth is not abundant the loss of leaves can hardly fail to 

 affect the yield to an important degree. The sawfly proves to be a new 

 species and it also constitutes the type of a new genus. It has been 

 designated by Dr. A. D. MacGillivray as Profenusa collaris. 



Polydrosus impressifrons Gyll. We have been watching this species 

 with great interest for several years as its increasing numbers have led 

 us to believe that it is going to develop to be of considerable economic 

 importance. It has become so abundant that during the early summer 

 it is not an uncommon experience to carry the beetles on one's clothes 

 into the home or to observe them on the window screens of buildings. 

 Our attention was first attracted to these insects by their work on 

 young leaves of poplars and willows, and in recent years we have seen 

 them on the foliage of roses, apples and pears. The numbers of the 

 insects would at once suggest to one that they must be causing some 

 harm, but aside from slight injuries to foliage we have never been able 

 to determine just what damage the beetles were causing. During 

 1912 we observed for the first time an example of their destructive 

 capacity. This was in a large block of willows (Salix caprea) , grafted 

 to New American, Rosemary and Kilmarnock varieties, which was 

 seriously injured by the beetles feeding on the young buds of the 

 grafts so that they failed to grow. 



So far we have obtained very little information regarding the work 

 of this species in its normal habitat for it does not seem to have at- 

 tracted much attention in Europe aside from systematic workers. 

 Schilsky says that it is quite common in Germany, and Zimmerman 

 states that in Austria the beetles are not numerous enough to be 

 destructive. Giard intimates that it is a common but not an important 

 insect in Europe. It apparently prefers buds and tender leaves, 

 a habit which is shared by many closely related species, as Polydrosus 

 micans Sch., P. malt Fb., P. sericeus GIL, Phyllohius viridicollis Sch., 

 Ph. macidicornis Germ., Ph. pyri L., Ph. ohlongus L., Ph. argentatus- 

 L., and Ph. calcaratus Sch., which have been more closely studied in 

 Europe. The fact that impressifrons is apparently of little significance 

 abroad does not warrant the conclusion that it will prove of no im- 

 portance in this country. In fact we believe that the beetles are al- 

 ready more numerous here than in Europe or more attention would 

 surely have been given to the species. 



Apple and Cherry Ermine Moths. At the twenty-second annual 

 meeting of this Association mention was made of the importations of 



