715 



MacDougall (R. S.)- Insect pests in 1914. — Trans. Highland & Agric. 

 Soc. Scotland, 1915. Kepiiut 27 pp., 20 figs. [Received 27tli 

 September 1915.] 



Rose shoots received in July 191J: from Inverness-sliire were tunnelled 

 and killed by larvae of the Hymenopteron, Poecilosoma candidaUnn. 

 No spray or wash is effective against this pest, but infested shoots 

 should be cut of? and destroyed and the surface soil below attacked 

 bushes removed as a measure against the pupae. Orchestes fagi, L. 

 (beech leaf-mining weevil) is very abundant, well-grown beeches 

 being most commonly attacked. The late summer and early 

 autumn of 1914 were characterised by the presence of enormous 

 numbers of Tipula. Lawns Avere brown with the empty pupa 

 cases. High and persistent gales when swarming was at its h(;ight, 

 caused great mortality, and this probably saved many fields from 

 oviposition. Lepidosaphes uhni (apple mussel scale) and Chionaspis 

 salicis (scurfy scale) were sent in more than once during the year. 

 Pieris brassicae was very common in some parts ; as is the case every 

 year, the caterpillars of Euxoa (Agrotis) segetuni (turnip moth), Feltia 

 (A.) exdamationis (heart and dart moth) and Agrotis (Tryphaena) 

 pronuba (yellow underwing) proved troublesome ; potatoes were 

 especially damaged by the two first-named pests. The diamond- back 

 moth, Plutella maculipennis, appeared in overwhelming numbers, 

 beginning early in July. The worst damage was done to turnips and 

 swedes, entire fields being lost in some cases ; cabbage also suffered. 

 According to Mr. W. L. Johnston, the most eftective method of control 

 is stirring deeply between the drills, and when this is accompanied by 

 damp weather the crop will not suftcr to any great extent. Pears 

 infested by the Cecidomyid, Contarinui {Diplosis) pijrivora (pear midge), 

 were sent from Lanarkshire towards the end of June. The larvae of 

 Lggaeonematus (Nefnatus) erichsomi (large larch sawfly) are sent in 

 every summer from some part of Scotland. This insect is one of the 

 pests scheduled by the Board of Agriculture. 



Among other insects received during the year, or which proved 

 troublesome in different parts of Scotland, were the caterpillars of the 

 magpie moth {Abraxas grossulariata], gooseberry and currant sawfly 

 [Pteronus ribesii] and winter moth [Cheiniatobia brumata] on goose- 

 berries ; Melolontha hippocastnni, spruce and pine Chermes, the rose 

 aphis, Anobium domesticuni (furniture beetle). Crypt or rhynchus lapathi 

 (willow and alder weevil), the maggots of the cabbage root fly [Hyleniyia 

 antiqaa], and the three bark-boring beetles, Hylurgus piniperda (pine 

 beetle), Hylastes palliatus (crutch beetle) and Pityogenes bidentatus 

 (two-toothed pine bark beetle). The last-named is probably the 

 commonest of the bark-borers in Scotland ; it sometimes attacks 

 spruce and larch. Inquiry was also made concerning the very 

 troublesome house ant, Monomorium pharaonis. 



Burgess (A. F.) & Collins (C. W.). The Calosoma beetle {Calosoma 



sycophanta) in New England. — U. S. Dept. Agric, Washington, B.C., 



Bull. no. 251, 27th June 1915, 40 pp., 3 figs. 7 plates, 1 map. 



[Received 27th September 1915.] 



One living specimen of Calosoma sycophanta was received in New 



England from Europe in 1905 ; by the end of 1910 the numbers reached 



