REPORT OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST 1904 403 



the greater the likeHhood. of there being an intimate combination 

 between the sulfur and the lime. Attention to minor details such 

 as stirring, so as to prevent the lime and other chemicals forming 

 comparatively inert masses at the bottom of the receptacle, is of 

 considerable importance, since it is well known that the character 

 of a chemical combination is materially affected by physical con- 

 ditions. It is essential to mix these materials as intimately as pos- 

 sible and the difference between an efficient and comparatively 

 useless wash may, in some cases, be attributed to variation in the 

 method of preparation, even if the materials used be of the highest 

 quality. 



NOTES FOR THE YEAR 



The following observations relate to the more important or in- 

 teresting species brought to notice during the year. 



Fruit tree insects 



Fruit tree bark beetle (Scolytus rugulosus Ratz.) This 

 rather common enemy of peach and plum trees in particular, 

 has been the cause of several inquiries during the season of 1904, 

 though in no instance has it been so injurious in New York State 

 as it was a few years ago. It is a species which normally confines 

 its attacks to diseased or dying trees, and only occasionally does 

 it enter healthy ones. The infested branches should be cut off 

 and burned as soon as discovered, in order to destroy the insects 

 under the bark and prevent their spreading to other trees. Occa- 

 sionally it may be possible to kill the borers under the bark by 

 spraying the infested branches and trunk with crude petroleum, 

 but such applications must be made with great care and, as a rule, 

 they are not advisable. 



Red-humped apple caterpillar (Schizura concinna 

 Abb. & Sm.). This larva is one of our most striking caterpillars 

 on account of its coral red head and the prominent hump of the 

 same color on the first abdominal segment. The full grown cater- 

 pillar is about i^ inches long, black, with a series of rather con- 

 spicuous, yellowish, dorsal and sublateral lines, between which 

 lie a series of white lateral lines. The full grown caterpillar bears 

 prominent black tubercles on its body, they being specially well 

 developed on the thoracic and first abdominal segments, on which 

 latter they form conspicuous conical processes on the top of the 

 swollen red portion of the segments described above. The moth 

 is a rather inconspicuous creature with dark brown fore wings 



