440 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 3 



difficulty in preparing such for publication in the October and 

 December issues — numbers much less Hkely to be crowded with mat- 

 ter than the following two issues. One such paper appears in the 

 current number, and it is to be hoped that there will be several in 

 the December issue. Early pubhcation should not operate to limit 

 discussion, and in many instances would be of great value because 

 of the opportunity for looking up doubtful points. We would also 

 take this opportunity of calhng attention to the importance of 

 placing on record minor observations as Scientific Notes. Many of 

 these, while small in themselves, mean a substantial addition to 

 knowledge in the aggregate, and in altogether too many instances 

 they are buried in a mass of notes or forgotten, often to the 

 detriment of workers in allied lines. 



Reviews 



The New Mexico Range ^Caterpillar, by C. N. Ainslie, U. S. 

 Dept. of Agriculture, Bureau of Entomology, Bull. 85, Part V (1910), 

 p. 59-96. 



This admirable bulletin contains a full account of Hemileuca olivioe, an insect 

 which has been until recently very rare in collections, but has now appeared in 

 immense numbers in northern New Mexico, the larvae destrojdng the range grasses. 

 The species belongs to a group of closely allied forms inhabiting principally the 

 tablelands of Mexico, and probablj^ all grass-feeders. Doctor Dyar has contrib- 

 uted a section on the taxonomy of H. olivue, giving full descriptions of all the stages, 

 and a discussion of the related forms. The authorship of this section is stated in 

 the introduction, but it should have been given also at the beginning of the section, 

 where it would be noticed by bibliographers. The whole life history of the insect 

 has been carefully worked out by Mr. Ainslie, and is very well worth reading for 

 its biological interest. It is perhaps probable that H. olivice is a relatively recent 

 segregate from the Mexican group, resulting from some migrant which possessed 

 characters enabhng it to successfully multiply far out of the range of the parent 

 type. Even now the adjustment seems incomplete, for the moths emerge in the 

 fall, and very many perish in the cold and snow. It was also ascertained that the 

 heat of the bare ground is fatal to the larva;; when placed upon it " only in rare 

 instances did any survive when the distance to be traversed equalled 24 inches." 

 Pupation takes place principally among the branches of a species of Compositse, 

 Gulierrezia sarothrce; and Mr. Ainslie notes that the overstocking of the range has 

 reduced the nutritious grasses and led to the increase of this weed, which now greatly 

 facilitates the spread of the Hemileuca, which in its turn further reduces the grasses..* 

 Owing to this condition, it is impossible to say how widely the insect may spread, or 

 how much damage it may do. Mr. Ainslie describes the defensive fluids of the 

 moths, and remarks that it is curious that they should be so well equipped for defense 

 against enemies which in New Mexico appear to be non-existent. He also notes 



1 However, as I noted from specimens sent to me by Mr. Frank Springer, the Gutierrezia is 

 severely attacked by the Cecidomyiid Rhopalomyia guHerreziae (Ckl!.). 



