168 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 9 



President Glenn W. Herrick: Is there any discussion on this 

 paper by Dr. Chapman? 



Mr. T. J. Headlee: Has this disease been tested on the insects 

 as well as on their food? Has it been used on a large scale in the field 

 as a spray on the trees so that it could be fed upon? 



Mr. J. W. Chapman: Caterpillars have been subjected to "wilt'^ 

 material in various ways. It has been applied to their skin, and to 

 their food, as well as fed to them by means of a pipette as I mentioned 

 in the paper. 



There is evidence that infection can take place when "wilt" material 

 is apphed to the caterpillars' food but no evidence that it can take place 

 when applied to the skin. 



Our own work, so far, has been confined to the study of the etiology 

 of this tj'pe of disease. Others have attempted to use the disease in a 

 practical way but owing to the almost universal distribution of "wilt" 

 they have been unable to determine whether the results obtained were 

 due to the natural spread of disease or to artificial infection. 



President Glenn W. Herrick: Is there any data which shows 

 whether this disease is the same as that prevalent in Europe. Has it 

 been known for a number of years? 



Mr. J. W. Chapman: As to whether it is the same disease we 

 cannot definitely state but our experimental results indicate that it is. 



Secretary A. F. Burgess: I think we may have to change the 

 name of this disease. The common usage in New England in the area 

 infested by the gypsy moth, is the "wilt" disease. Wilt diseases of 

 plants are common in green houses and to prevent confusion it may be 

 necessary to call this a polyhedral disease; then there would be no con- 

 fusion. 



President Glenn W. Herrick: If there is no further discussion, 

 Dr. Aldrich would like to make an announcement just at this point. 



Mr. J. M. Aldrich: I am working on the Oscinidse of grains and 

 grasses. The last authority who classified our North American species 

 was Mr. Beclcer, of Germany, in 1912; he recognized in our fauna the 

 important European species Oscinis frit and pusilla, and I have some 

 of the material so determined by him, now in my collection. However, 

 there appears to be a striking difference in habit between the American 

 species and those of Europe, which raises a doubt in my mind as to the 

 correctness of the identifications. 



Oscinis frit was known by Linnaeus, its describer, to live in the larval 

 stage in the unripe kernel of barley: the Swedes called the spoiled 

 kernels frits, which gave Linnseus the specific name. 



Oscinis -pusilla is widely known in Europe as the oat fly, and its 

 larvae attacks grains of oats likewise. 



