186 



arsenite 5 lb., and black sugar 5 to 20 lb., boiled in 25 gals, water, and 

 distributed on branches of blue-gum or pieces of sacking, were placed 

 and constantly renewed in all latrines, dormitories, cook-houses and 

 stores. 



Chandler (A. C). The Western Newt or Water-Dog {Notophthalmus 

 torosus), a Natural Enemy of Mosquitoes.^Ore^row Agric. Coll. 

 Expt. Sta., Corvallis, Bull. no. 152, June 1918, 24 pp., 6 figs. 



Observations and experiments undertaken for the purpose of dis- 

 covering to what extent the salamander, Notophthalmus torosus, 

 might be regarded as a natural enemy of mosquitos, have shown that 

 under suitable conditions it is a highly efficient destroyer of their 

 larvae. Its employment for this purpose may be recommended for 

 the following reasons : — (1) Its almost entire freedom from natural 

 enemies ; (2) its ability to live in almost any kind of water that is not 

 too filthy, and in almost any kind of a receptacle from a glass bowl 

 to a lake ; (3) its relatively enormous capacity for food, combined 

 with the ability to go for long periods without it. The chief objection 

 to its use commercially is that it breeds slowly and rec[uires a long 

 time to reach maturity, but this is counterbalanced by the ease 

 with which the adults can be obtained and distributed in a moist box, 

 and further, that such collection would ensure the development of 

 the eggs and larvae, many of which are normally destroyed by the 

 adults themselves. 



The similarity between the habits of N. torosus and those of the 

 eastern form, N. viridescens, points to the latter being equally useful 

 as a mosquito larva destroyer in the north-eastern United States, 

 where N. torosus could not thrive. 



It is therefore recommended that one or two individuals should 

 be kept in each rain barrel, water-barrel, and water-trough, in the 

 last of which, however, the water level would have to be kept three 

 or four inches below the top of the trough, and the outflow holes 

 would have to be screened with coarse wire netting. Borrow-pits 

 are among the most important mosquito breeding places, being 

 large enough to breed enormous numbers, but too small to be success- 

 fully stocked with fish. If possible, they should be drained and filled 

 in, but if this is not feasible, stocking them with N. torosus would prove 

 cheaper and more efficacious than oiling. It has been shown that 

 reservoirs, mill ponds, garden pools, and large sluggish irrigation 

 ditches are kept free of mosquitos by this means, and in view of the 

 seriousness of the situation due to the breeding of Anopheles and 

 consequent malaria in the rice-fields of California, the introduction 

 of N. torosus seems to be an experiment worth trying. 



J)epartment of Entomology. — 43rd Ann. Rept. {1917) Ontario Agric. 

 Coll., Toronto, 1918, pp. 19-20. 



Cuterebra cuniculi (rabbit bot fly) was found to be infesting many 

 rabbits, producing large tumours under the skin, but seldom proving 

 fatal. Experiments with repellents for use against the horn-fly 

 [Lyperosia] and the stable-fly [Stomoxys calcifrans] showed the 

 following home-made solution to be satisfactory. One gal. fish-oil 

 soap is thoroughly mixed into 1 gal. hot water in which half a cake 



