343 



time taken being 7| months. As from 50 to 100 days are required 

 after maturity is reached before oviposition begins, the total time 

 from one generation to another is approximately 10 months. 



Zappe (M. p. ). Occurrence of the European House Cricket in Connecticut 



{Gryllus domesLicus., L.).—18th Rept. Connecticut State Entomologist 



for 1918, Conn. Aqric. Expf. Sfa., New -Haven, Bull. no. 211, 1919, 



pp. 313-316. [Received 5th Jane 1919.] 



A case is recorded of a house in Connecticut, the attics of which 



■were infested with Gryllus domesticus, L. (European house cricket), 



which attacked the rafters and boarding, clothing and any food they 



could reach. Two kinds of poison-bait were tried ; the first consisted 



of h lb. potato flour, h lb. borax and one mashed ripe banana, all 



mixed with enough water to make a thin paste ; the second was 



1 tablet of bichloride of mercury dissolved in ^ cup of water, to which 



was added a cupful of flour and the chopped skin of a banana. When 



the house was visited two days later the majority of the crickets were 



dead, and as all the bait was eaten it was impossible to tell which was 



the more effective. The treatment was continued for another 9 days, 



after which the crickets were reported to have all disappeared. 



Kelly (E. 0. G.) & Wilson (T. S.). Controlling the Garden Web- 

 worm in Alfalfa Fields. — U.S. Dept. Agric, Washington, B.C., 

 Farmers' Bull. no. 944, August 1918, 7 pp., 3 figs. [Received 

 10th June 1919.] 

 The bulk of the information for combating Loxostege similalis con- 

 tained in this bulletin has previously been noticed [see this Review, 

 Ser. A, V, p. 397]. The use of brush drags is advocated after the 

 cutting of infested fields. Such a drag can be easily made by attaching 

 short tough branches of trees to one side of a strong pole, 10 or 12 

 feet long, to the other side of which a team can be harnessed. A 

 large field may be treated in this way in a short time and can be 

 dragged twice without injury to the lucerne plants. 



Chittenden (F. H.). Control of the Onion Thrips {TJirips tabaci, 

 Lind.). — U.S. Dept. Agric, Washington, B.C., Farmers' Bull. no. 

 1007, 16 pp., 11 figs. [Received 10th June 1919.] 



Thrips tabaci, Lind. (onion thrips) is the most serious menace to 

 the onion-growing industry in the United States, causing a loss of 

 some £450,000 annually, while the total damage by this species, which 

 also attacks cabbage, cauliflower, cucumber, melon and many vege- 

 table crops, amounts to about £600,000 annually. As this thrips 

 breeds upon a large variety of weeds, clean farming and proper crop 

 rotation help to keep it in check. Directions are given for spraying 

 with nicotine sulphate [see this Review, Ser. A, v, p. 186], with illustra- 

 tions of the apparatus most effective under various conditions. 



Kyle (C. H.). Shuck Protection for Ear Corn. — U.S. Dept. Agric. ^ 

 Washington, D.C., Bull. no. 708, 18th September 1918, 16 pp., 3 

 figs. [Received 10th June 1919.] 



Details are given of investigations to determine the most important 

 facts regarding the merits of shucks as a means of preventing damage 



