366 FOETY-EIGHTH REPORT ON THE STATE MUSEUM 



answered and record made of such portion of the study as may 

 be desirable to record for publication. Although such inquiries 

 might more appropriately be made elsewhere — either to the 

 Agricultural Experiment Station of the State or to the Entomo- 

 logical Division of the United States Department of Agriculture 

 at Washington — than of the New York State Entomologist, still 

 it has been thought proper to give them all the attention they 

 merit, in consideration of the value of the study (when required) 

 to your Entomologist and to entomological science at large. 

 Many of these replies have been communicated to agricultural 

 journals, while those of general interest may hereafter be given 

 in following numbers of my annual reports. 



During the year correspondence has been had with residents in 

 each one of the States and Territories except two. The number 

 of letters pertaining to the work of the oflBce, sent out during the 

 year, so far as they have been listed, is 1,583. Of the more import- 

 ant ones, or those which might be useful for reference, copies have 

 been retained ; of the others their subjects have been noted. The 

 number of letters received and filed during the same time is 

 1,310. 



Although the year has not been remarkable for widespread 

 insect attacks of unusual severity, still there have been many 

 which deserved and have received careful study, which will be 

 reported hereafter. Some of these are of special interest, as 

 being new to the State, and others, from extending their range 

 into, and occupying portions of, the State, which had been pre- 

 viously exempt from their presence. 



The one event that has made the year a notable one in the 

 annals of entomological science is the appearance of the periodi- 

 cal Cicada or " the 17-year locust " ia the Hudson River 

 Yalley, and the opportunity afforded for studying in many locali- 

 ties the remarkable above-ground structures made by the pupae 



