D30 



Howard (L. 0.), Report of the Entomologist for the year ended 30th 

 June 1914. — Ann. Rept. U.S. Dept. Agric, Washington, D.C., 1914. 

 [Reprint, 16 pp., received 1st March 1915.] 



The results of new work and of progress in the older investigations 

 are summarised in this Report. The gipsy moth was discovered in 

 118 New England towns, where it had not been previously reported. 

 Very thorough work was carried on to wipe out a colony found in Ohio. 

 In New York State steps were immediately taken against a colony 

 found there. State laws modelled on that of Massachusetts, which 

 requires each municipality to share control, would greatly assist in the 

 difficult problem of preventing westward spread. An enormous decrease 

 of the brown-tail moth is due to the severe winter, to the brown-tail 

 fungus disease, and to the imported parasites. The quarantine 

 inspection of forest products and nursery stock from the gipsy and 

 browTi-tail moth areas covered 17,076 shipments ; 4,253 specimens 

 of the former nest, and 1,404 of the latter, were found and destroyed. 

 Introduced and other parasites and natural enemies have been more 

 conspicuous than ever before ; Anasfatus bifasciatus, Schedius kuvanae, 

 Apanteles lacteicolor, A. ynelayioscelis, Meteorus versicolor, Limneriwn 

 disparts, Compisilura concinnafa, and Calosoma sycopJianta were all 

 in evidence. In the section devoted to deciduous fruit insect investiga- 

 tions, it is stated that the remedies adopted in certain European 

 countries for the control of the grape Phylloxera may perhaps be found 

 effective in the destruction of the root form of the woolly aphis. Proof 

 has been obtained that the cotton-boll weevil has changed somewhat 

 structurally since entering the United States, that it has become 

 adapted to greater severities of climate and is also now able to obtain 

 subsistence and possibly to develop on certain plants related to cotton, 

 among which are Hibiscus syriacus and Callirrhoe involucrata. In 1913, 

 17,700 square miles of new territory were infested by the cotton-boll 

 worm, and the primary loss in the cotton area was approximately 

 $30,000,000. The effect of low temperatures upon the different stages 

 of the cigarette beetle has been worked out, and it was found that all 

 stages of the insect can be killed very economically by this method, 

 though the proper handhng of tobacco to prevent damage during the 

 change in temperatures is not yet understood. Ammonia gas also 

 promises to be a very cheap and efficient control for this beetle. Work 

 in connection with forest and timber pests led to the discovery that 

 kerosene and Unseed oil are effective repellents against the so-called 

 powderpost beetles, and fairly general utilisation of these oils by 

 manufacturers has followed this discovery. In the section dealing with 

 pests of vegetable and truck crops mention is made of a self-propelled 

 sprayer fitted with a light, high-speed gasoline engine pump for use 

 in the onion fields in Texas and Louisiana, where such a machine has 

 long been a necessity for the control of the onion thrips. Dichloro- 

 benzene was thoroughly tested against various stored-product insects 

 such as weevils, beetles, and moths, and against ants, cockroaches, and 

 other household pests. This gas is neither inflammable nor explosive ; 

 it apparently is non-injurious to man and domestic animals when 

 inhaled, and products taken directly from the fumigation chamber 

 have been fed to domestic animals with no harmful results. The 

 control of various citrus pests by spray methods as an alternative to 

 fumigation has been taken up in California. 



