2 4 Annals Entomological Society of America [Vol. Ill, 



one time, in West \'iri(inia, it caused considerable mortality in 

 his breeding cai^cs, where he was attemptinj^ to rear wood-boring 

 Cerambycidae and Scolytidae, precisely as experienced, in France, 

 by M. Jules Lichtenstien. 



Mr. W. J. Phillips observed this mite attacking the larvae of 

 Mordellistina iistulata, in Indiana, October 3, 1905, while inves- 

 tigating the occurrence of these larvae in the stems of timothy 

 and other grasses. 



In the publication of Messrs. Hunter and Hinds, previously 

 referred to, some information is given relative to the attempt to 

 use this mite artificially in overcoming the boll weevil. It has 

 been experimented with quite extensively by Prof. A. L. Herrera 

 and his assistants of the Mexican Commission of Parasitology, and 

 upon his return from a trip to Mexico in the fall of 1902, I\Ir. Hunt- 

 er brought with him, through the kindness of Prof. Herrera, a 

 supply of the parasites, from which others were reared for experi- 

 mental work in Texas. This experiment, however, owing to con- 

 ditions beyond the control of man, perhaps happily so, appears 

 not to have resulted satisfactorily. One of the principal ob- 

 stacles in this case seems to have been that, where the mites 

 succeeded in establishing themselves, they were subsequently 

 destroyed by the attacks of small ants. 



These references show quite clearly the wide distribution of 

 this mite throughout the United States and its great variety of 

 host insects. We have, in later years, come to consider it a very 

 useful parasite and one that is likely to attack almost any soft- 

 bodied larvae, beyond the reach of insecticides, but to which 

 it, by reason of its minute size, could gain access and be secure 

 from other predaceous insects and adverse meteorological condi- 

 tions. 



The Mite Beco.mes Noxious to ]\Iax. 



While, as stated in the earlier portion of this paper, either 

 this or some other closely allied species has long been known to 

 occasionally attack man and animals in Europe, when these are 

 engaged in handling or come into contact with grain or straw 

 infested by their host insects, the first instance of this character 

 to be noted in America has been communicated to me by the 

 present j^residing officer of this Society, Dr. Henry Skinner, of 

 Philadelphia, Pa. It wa's about the year, 1894 while Dr. Skinner 

 was practicing medicine in Philadelphia, that the owner of a 

 boarding house in one of the Xcw jcrsev sul^url^s of the citv came 



