346 



Harrison (J. W. H.). Coccidae observed in Durham and North 

 Yorkshire. — Naturalist, London, no. 697, February 1915, pp. 78-81. 



Oak-feeding species were scarce, AspicUotus zonatus, Frauenf ., being 

 once taken. Specimens of Asjyidiotus perniciosus, Comst., were once 

 observed on a pear in the Greenmarket, Newcastle-on-Tyne. Parlatoria 

 pcrgandii, Comst., is stated to occur frequently on imported oranges. 

 Cliionaspis salicis, L., is the most abundant Coccid, occurring commonly 

 in the Birtley district, on alder, ash and sallow {Salix caprea and 

 S. cinerea), and on ash and Salix aurita near Middlesbrough. It is 

 particularly destructive to ^S. cinerea on Waldridge Fell, where the 

 weakened trees soon fall victims to the weevil, Cryptorhynchns lapathi, 

 L. Lepidosaphes tdmi, L., {Mytilaspis pomorum, Bouche), is recorded 

 from apple at Low Fell. Phenacoccus aceris, Sign., was scarce, being 

 noted once only in small numbers on blackthorn at Chester-le-Street. 



Pearson (A. H.). Home Correspondence : Winter Spraying. — Gardeners' 

 Chron., London, Ivii, no. 1470, 27th February 1915, p. 115. 



Fruit-tree growers are warned against spraying trees with alkali 

 wash in consecutive years. In the author's experience, this is liable 

 to cause the bark to harden and the trees either become stunted, or 

 if they expand, their bark cracks. It is suggested that this practice 

 accounts for the present increase of canker. Washes containing 

 paraffin are said to have a similar effect in desiccating the bark, but 

 lime-sulphur is stated to have always given good results as a winter- 

 wash. 



TuLLGREN (A.). Senapsbaggen {Phaedon cochleariae, Fabr.) jamte 

 nagra andra skadedjur pa pepparrot och deras bekampande. [The 

 mustard beetle, Phaedon cochleariae, F., and other injurious 

 insects of the horse radish and" their control.] — Meddelande 

 no. 113 fran Ceniralanstalten for Forsok pa Jordhruksomradet, 

 Stockliolm, Entom. Avdeln. no. 22, 1915, 15 pp., 4 figs. 



Of late years the ravages of Phaedon cochleariae in the neighbourhood 

 of Enkoping, the chief centre of horse-radish cultivation in Sweden, 

 have increased considerably and threaten to ruin this industry com- 

 pletely. In 1913, the loss caused by this insect in the area belonging 

 to the town alone, amounted to about £833. The author in 1913 and 

 1914 studied the life-history of this and other insect pests of horse- 

 radish, and in 1914 experiments were conducted in order to control 

 them. The beetles hibernate and appear in early spring, ovipositing 

 in the middle of June. At the end of this month young larvae appear, 

 and in about three weeks they are full-grown, the pupation~^riod being 

 about a fortnight. The new generation of beetles appears at the 

 beginning of August, the succeeding generation being adult at the end 

 of September. 



The original host plants of the mustard beetles are probably wild 

 species of Nasturtium, Cardamine and Cochlearia, but it has also been 

 recorded from a plant belonging to another family, Veronica beccabunga. 

 It also attacks turnips and cabbage. The eggs are laid exclusively 

 on the under side of the leaves, generally singly, in small pockets made 



