August, '16] SCIENTIFIC NOTES 443 



it operates at the time to exclude any possible further entry of any oriental insects 

 attacking this cereal. 



The gipsy-moth and l)ro\vn-tail moth quarantine embodies the annual revision of 

 the territory, necessitated on account of changes in distribution of the two insects. 

 Provision for the inspection and certification of Christmas trees has been continued 

 for another year. Arrangements have also been made for notifying the proper state 

 officials of all shipments of certified products from the quarantined territory, in order 

 that the states may have a chance to reinspect such products if desired. 



Mesogramma polita Say. On July 10, 1916, while upon a collecting trip about 

 six miles south of the city of Baton Rouge, I came to a small field of corn which was 

 infested by Syrphid larvie. Taking particular notice of them, I found they were feed- 

 ing upon the pollen grains which had fallen down on the leaves, and were the most 

 numerous at the junction of the leaves with the main stalk. In that place consid- 

 erable moisture remained during the entire day. Later I found that the larvae would 

 feed out upon the leaves during the early part of the morning as long as the dew was 

 present but retreated to the base of the leaves as the dew disappeared. 



Recalling Mr. C. H. Richardson's article upon "corn-feeding" Syrphid larvae in 

 the June issue of the Journal, I collected a number of the larva? and later at the 

 laboratory reared the same by feeding them upon the pollen of corn. From the pupa 

 emerged the adult flies of Mesogramma polita, Say. 



Wishing to be certain of my identification I sent the specimens to Dr. L. O. Howard 

 and they were identified by Mr. F. Knab as Toxomerus politus, Say. (Synon.). 



O. W. ROSEWALL, 



Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, La. 



Report on Gipsy Moth Conference held in Boston and Vicinity, July 7 and 

 8, 1916. A summer conference on gipsy moth work was held on July 7 and 8 for the 

 purpose of visiting different sections of the infested territory and observing the 

 methods used in the field and at the Gipsy Moth Laboratory. The following visitors 

 were present: Mr. L. S. McLaine, Fredericton, N. B.; W. A. Osgood, Durham, N. H.; 

 F. W. Rane, Boston, Mass.; George A. Smith, Boston, Mass.; R. L. Kneeland, Boston, 

 Mass.; H. T. Fernald, Amherst, Mass.; J. J. Pillsbury, Providence, R. I.; Harry 

 Horovitz, Providence, R. I.; I. W. Davis, New Haven, Conn.; George G. Atwood, 

 Albany, N. Y.; C. L. Marlatt, Washington, D. C; W. E. Hinds, Auburn, Ala., and 

 Alden T. Speare, Washington, D. C. 



The members of the staff of the Bureau of Entomology connected with moth work 

 also attended the meeting and field trips. The visitors assembled at the office of the 

 Bureau of Entomology, 43 Tremont Street, Boston, at 10 o'clock and proceeded to 

 Plymouth, Mass. In the afternoon a number of badly infested areas were inspected 

 in the towTi of Plymouth and vicinity. The night was spent at Plymouth and in the 

 morning the party proceeded to the Bussey Institution at Forest Hills, where an 

 inspection was made of the work which is being carried on in regard to the wilt disease 

 of the gipsy moth. In the afternoon a demonstration was given of high-power 

 spraying with the automobile truck sprayer of the Bureau of Entomology. The 

 party then proceeded to the Gipsy Moth Laboratory at Melrose Highlands, and 

 examined the work which is being carried on there. 



The meeting was called for the purpose of giving an opportunity of seeing the field 

 conditions and field work, hence no papers or reports were given. , .; . . 



Those who attended expressed much satisfaction at having an opportunity to see 

 the work during the time when the caterpillars are the most destructive. 



A. F. Burgess 



