215 



orange maggot [Trypeta ludens], pineapple black weevil [Metatnasiits 

 ritchiei], West Indian sweet potato weevil [Euscepes batatas], mango 

 seed weevil [Sternochetus nmngiferae] and Argentine ant [Iridomyrmex 

 humilis]. 



The Department of Entomology during the two years under review 

 has prepared and sold 1,085 pure cultures of the red fungus [Ascher- 

 sonia aleurodis] which attacks the larvae of the citrus white fly [Dialeu- 

 rodes citri], and has also distributed a considerable number of cultures 

 of the yellow fungus [A. flavocitrina] for the control of the cloudy- 

 winged whitefly [Aleurodes nubifera]. Numerous colonies of the 

 Australian Coccinellid [Novius cardinalis] for the control of the cottony 

 cushion-scale [Icerya purchasi] were reared and distributed. It was 

 found that, within certain limits, N. cardinalis can be reared in the 

 laboratory by feeding it on /. purchasi, large supplies of which must 

 be collected and kept in cold storage for the purpose. It was also 

 found that, in the temporary absence of these scale-insects, the young 

 beetles can themselves be placed in cold storage and their develop- 

 ment arrested pending the arrival of further consignments of food. 

 A method consisting of cutting back and treating trees infested with 

 camphor thrips [Cryptothrips floridensis], which renders them free 

 from infestation, has been adopted. 



Montgomery (J. H.) & Bragdon (K. E,). Quarantine Department. 

 — Qtrly. Bull. Florida State Plant Board, Gainesville, iii, no. 2, 

 January 1919, pp. 110-112. 



During the quarter ending 31st December 1918, the principal pests 

 intercepted from foreign countries inchided i-Aspidiotus sp. on 

 cassava, A. cocotiphagus on coconut, bollworm [Heliothis obsoleta] 

 on maize, cigarette beetle [Lasioderma serricorne] on cassava, 

 sweet potato weevil [Cylas formicarius] in sweet potato from Cuba, 

 and sweet potato scarab ee [Euscepes batatae] in sweet potato from 

 Porto Rico. 



Weiss (H. B.). Unusual Nursery Insects. — New Jersey Dept. Agric. 

 Bur. Statistics & Inspection, Trenton, Circ. no. 24, November 

 1918, 13 pp., 6 figs. [Received 19th March 1919.] 



Agromyza laterella, Zett. (iris leaf-miner) has been injurious to 

 Japanese iris for several years in New Jersey nurseries. The larvae 

 mine in the leaves, beginning near the surface of the soil and extending 

 upwards for 10 to 16 inches, and also mine the part of the plant 

 just below the surface, marring the appearance, but not involving 

 the death of the plant. The flies appear early in June and oviposit 

 at the base of the plants under the epidermis of the leaf. The incuba- 

 tion period is about 15 days and the larvae after tunnelling upwards 

 pupate at the ends of their mines, the adults emerging during the 

 latter part of August in South Jersey, where a second brood occurs ; 

 hibernation takes place in the pupal stage within the mines. Remedial 

 measures consist in destroying the larvae in their mines by spraying 

 with an 8 per cent, kerosene emulsion, or with Black Leaf 40 dt the 



