575 



beetles appear to leave their winter quarters in early spring, oviposit 

 near young maize plants and feed upon these during the prolonged 

 period of oviposition. This leads to the somewhat anomalous assump- 

 tion that the parent beetle, under stress of hunger, destroys the food- 

 plant of the larvae. If true, this would account for the very erratic 

 occurrence of the outbreaks. According to Mr. E. H. Gibson, the 

 beetles can be readily destroyed by a poisoned-bran bait, consisting 

 of 25 lb. of wheat bran, 1 lb. of Paris green, 1 U.S. gal. of low-grade 

 molasses, the juice of three oranges, with enough water to bring the 

 mixture to a stiff dough. This is best applied in the late afternoon. 

 A bibliography of eight works concludes this paper. 



Parker (W. B.). Control of Dried-Fruit Insects in California.— ?7. /S. 



Dept. Agric, Washington, D.C., Bull. no. 235, 21th June 1915, 

 15 pp. 4 figs., 7 plates. 



The most common and destructive insect pests of dried fruit on the 

 Pacific coast are Plodia inter pundella, Hb. (Indian-meal moth) and 

 Carpophilus hemipterus, L. (dried- fruit beetle). Other species are : 

 Ephestia cautella, Walk, (fig moth), Silvanus surinamensis, L. (saw- 

 toothed grain beetle), Cathartus aclvena, Waltl (foreign grain beetle), 

 a fungus beetle, Henoticus serratus, Gyll., and the sugar mites, Tyro- 

 gh/phus siro, Gerv., and T. longior, Gerv. Machines have been invented 

 which will successfully pack and seal small packages of dried fruit at 

 a moderate cost and it is probable that it will soon be as necessary to 

 pack dried fruit in that form as it is to pack cereals [see this Review, 

 Ser. A, ii, p. 93.] 



Fink (D. E.) The Egg-Plant Lace-Bug.— f/. S. Dept. Agric. Washington, 

 D.C., Bull. no. 239, 24th June 1915, 7 pp., 6 plates. 



The Tingid, Gargaphia solani, sp. n., is a new enemy of the egg-plant 

 and related plants. In Virginia, it feeds extensively on the former, 

 causing the leaves to turn yellow and finally shrivel up. All stages 

 may be found on the underside of the leaves, and, especially in the 

 nymphal stages, the bugs feed in original colonies as hatched. The 

 nymphs migrate from one leaf to another, injuring every leaf attacked, 

 until they transform, after which, as adults, they disperse to other 

 plants. During the summer of 1914, the injury in many egg-plant 

 fields near Norfolk, Va., was estimated at from 10 tp 15 per cent. 

 This insect is not yet generally recognised as a specialised egg-plant 

 pest owing to the fact that the injury closely resembles that due to 

 Aphids, which are usually present about the same time. The egg, 

 nymph and adult are described. The species appears to be a native 

 of America and to have a distribution ranging from the South 

 Atlantic coast to the South-western States. It has been recorded on 

 Solanum carolinense, S. elaeag^iifolium and Cassia sp. (coffee weed). 

 Early in spring, almost as soon as egg-plants are planted out, the 

 hibernating adults begin to infest them and establish colonies. Adults 

 and eggs were found as early as 20th May. The adults reproduce and 

 feed during the entire summer on the egg-plant, but migrate to Solanum 

 carolinense (horse nettle) during the latter part of August and the first 



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