February, '16] MCCOLLOCH AND HAYES: SOLENOPSIS MOLESTA 23 



It is the lack of severe mental training; it is barely tasting the Pierian 

 Spring, that breeds shallow thinking and superficial results. A scholar 

 in his calmer moments, at least, as Milliken says, ought to "be a man 

 who exemplifies in his whole life the very essence of temperance, a 

 man who is always rational and consecutive in his thinking, just and 

 truthful in his speech, dispassionate and fair in his analysis." The 

 fujture work in applied entomology will demand, more than ever, 

 scholarly men and these are to be obtained only through a course 

 of broad training and rigorous thinking. 



Finally, I would urge upon every teacher of entomology and upon 

 every one interested in the success of our favorite science, the impor- 

 tance of emphasizing to young men, who contemplate choosing applied 

 entomology as a field of labor, the desirability, nay, the necessity of a 

 thorough and extensive preparation. Economic entomology will 

 certainly play an increasingly important role during the coming years 

 in the development of rural life. As our knowledge of the activities 

 and habits of insects increases we realize more and more keenly the 

 far-reaching effect these tiny but multitudinous animals may exert 

 upon the basic welfare of all mankind. I am, therefore, profoundly 

 impressed with the possibilities and the greatness of applied ento- 

 mology as a profession and am greatly concerned with the need of 

 young men being properly fitted for the work. Upon the young men 

 now entering the profession will rest the responsibility of maintaining 

 the fine reputation of the older workers, of adequately meeting the 

 present problems, and of securely laying the foundations for the larger 

 field of the future. 



Reading of Papers 

 President Glenn W. Herrick: The first paper on the program 

 will be given by Mr. J. W. McCoUoch. 



A PRELIMINARY REPORT ON THE LIFE ECONOMY OF 

 SOLENOPSIS MOLESTA SAY^ 



By J. W. McCoLLOCH and Wm. P. Hayes, Assistant Entomologists, Kansas State 

 AgricuUural Ex-periment Station 



Introduction 

 In the spring of 1911, the Department of Entomology of the Kan- 

 sas State Agricultural Experiment Station received several reports 

 from southern Kansas of kafir seed being destroyed, soon after it was 



1 This paper embodies the results of some of the investigations undertaken by the 

 authors in the prosecution of project No. 92 — Investigations on the Staple Crop 

 Insects of Southern Kansas — of the Kansas State Agricultural Experiment Station. 



