€4 JOURNAL OD ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 6 



Yponomeuta caterpillars in the United States in shipments of foreign 

 nursery stock. Since the discovery of these insects special precautions 

 have been taken by the agentsx)f the Division of Nursery Inspection 

 of the New York Department of Agriculture with plantations of im- 

 ported seedlings, and during the past four years infested plants have 

 been detected in thirteen localities in the state. According to the 

 reports of the nursery inspectors over nine hundred colonies of cater- 

 pillars have been collected. From some of this material we have bred 

 two species of moths — -Yponomeuta malinellus Zell., which thrives 

 largely on apple, and Y. padellus L., which is a more general feeder; 

 showing preference for hawthorn, plum and cherry. Both species are 

 common and destructive fruit pests in Europe. 



Careful inspections of nursery plantations and the surroundings 

 of nurseries indicate that these lepidopterons have not gained a footing 

 in New York. In states where there has not been such inspection 

 the danger that such has taken place is obviously great. With the 

 ability of these insects to survive the conditions incidental to the 

 importation of nursery stock from abroad and to escape ordinary 

 nursery inspection, the wonder is that they have not before this suc- 

 ceeded in establishing themselves along the avenues of trade in America. 



The False Tarnished Plant-Bug. During some seasons pears 

 in New York are subject to a diseased condition, characterized by the 

 cracking open of the skin in small spots and the formation of protrud- 

 ing granular areas. Fruits seriously affected are usually much de- 

 formed and undersized. The nature of the causal agent appears to 

 have been little understood or not definitely known, although some 

 writers have held that the tarnished plant bug (Lygus pratensis L.) 

 is responsible for such injuries. Recent studies by us have shown 

 that the scarring of the pears is due to the work of a closely-related 

 species {Lijgus invitus Say). The damage is done principally by the 

 nymphs which attack both the fruit and foliage of pears. The same 

 species also seeks grape blossoms and punctures the stems as well as 

 the pedicels of the blossoms and fruits, causing imperfect clusters of 

 grapes. In some orchards about Pavilion and Lockport this capsid 

 has been responsible for losses in yields fully as large as those by the 

 pear psylla, which is a great "bug-bear" to most pear growers in this 

 state. 



In recent years the work of various capsids on apple and pear fruits 

 has been increasingly conspicuous. In addition to L. invitus, we have 

 also observed the nymphs of Campylomma verhasci Meyer and Para-*' 

 calocoris colon Say puncturing young pears soon after the dropping 

 of blossoms. The red bugs {Heterocordylus malinus Rent, and Lygidea 

 mendax Ileut.) are doing considerable damage in many apple orchards 



