February, '13] NEW INJURIOUS INSECTS, DISCUSSION 65 



by destroying young apples or causing the fruit to be deformed so 

 that it is unmarketable. The destructive work of these insects dur- 

 ing 1912 would indicate that they are going to become a serious item 

 for economic consideration. 



The Gipsy Moth. Last in this list of the new destructive insects 

 of New York and more important than all is the Gipsy Moth {Porthe- 

 tria dispar L.) which was discovered by W. J. Schoene of the Geneva 

 Experiment Station on June 22, 1912. An announcement of the occur- 

 rence of this insect in this state and some of the circumstances of the 

 infestation were given in the Journal of Economic Entomology, 

 Vol. 5, p. 371. It now appears that this pest was largely confined to 

 a few old apple trees in the rear of several residences. No efforts 

 have been spared by the agents of the New York Department of Agri- 

 culture to suppress the pest, and it is expected that with the vigorous 

 measures that are being employed it should be exterminated. Accord- 

 ing to Mr. G. G. Atwood of the Bureau of Horticulture and Nursery 

 Inspection, the presence of this species in the residential section of 

 this cit}^ appears to be due to importations of nursery stock which 

 was unpacked in the immediate vicinity of the fruit trees. According 

 to him the infestation was probably started by not more than one 

 mass of eggs, and is not more than three years old. He reports that 

 about eighteen hundred caterpillars, five hundred pupae or pupal 

 cases and twent}^ moths were collected and destroyed. In the dis- 

 cover}^, for the first time, of a colony of the Gipsy Moth in the west- 

 ern portion of the State and not in the region adjoining Massachusetts, 

 that which was little expected has happened. One may well wonder 

 if the pest does not exist in other localities and has so far escaped 

 attention because of the unfamiliarity of local observers with its 

 appearance and importance. 



President W. D. Hunter: This paper is now open for discussion. 



Mr. H. J. Quayle: I am much interested in that part of the paper 

 referring to the pear thrips. I would like to ask what experiments 

 have been carried on for the control of this insect. 



Mr. p. J. Parrott: In reply I will say that at the New York Expe- 

 riment Station, we have been conducting experiments, and in this 

 work we have used Black-Leaf 40 with soap or kerosene emulsion, 

 making two sprays from the time the buds burst until the blossom 

 clusters open. In New York State the spring advances rapidly and 

 the buds open very quickly — much more so, I am informed, than in 

 California. My impression is that this problem will be a more simple 

 one than in that state. Spraying for the pest is, nevertheless, expen- 



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