378 



is dead grass, and their normal attacks upon trees are not serious, 

 being limited to dead bark, decayed interiors and dead limbs. It is 

 only when the noiTnal food supply is removed that orchard or trans- 

 planted forest trees are attacked, or when the moisture necessary to 

 their existence is unobtainable elsewhere. The occurrence of termites 

 in wells and boreholes, which has been the cause of several complaints, 

 has been found to be merely accidental. Those in a well were 

 harvesters ; those from a borehole were the fungus-growing species, 

 Termes hadiiis. In both cases the termites had been in search of 

 moisture. 



DowNES (W.). Entomology : Its Practical Value. — Agric. Jl. B.C. 

 Dept. Agric, Victoria. B.C., vi, no. 3, Mav 1921, pp. 72-73 

 and 79. ' 



The importance of entomological work and the results obtained 

 in British Columbia by the identification and control of insects are 

 described. 



The annual losses in Canada of field crops caused by insect pests 

 alone amount to ^^25,000,000 (at par). It is estimated that 10 per 

 cent, of the entire crop of wheat in Victoria is lost owing to Hessian 

 fly [Mavetiola destructor']. Grasshoppers have infested v500,000 acres 

 in Manitoba, approximately 1,600,000 acres in Alberta and 358,000 

 acres in Saskatchewan, where crops to the value of £500,000 were 

 saved b}' control measures. 



Vegetables suffer from 15 to 20 per cent, average loss from insect 

 ravages. Fruit crops, being permanent, suffer greater damage in 

 proportion to their area. The worst fruit pest is the codling-moth 

 [Cydia pomonella], which is capable of causing 10 to 25 per cent, loss 

 even in sprayed orchards. 



The forests of the country are more damaged by insect pests than 

 by fire. This is largely due to the old methods of lumbering, and care 

 should be taken to clear away all slash and refuse, which provide 

 breeding grounds. 



A list of the principal noxious insects of direct importance in British 

 Columbia and of the methods adopted for controlling them is given. 



The article ends by briefly describing the work of the various Canadian 

 Entomological Societies, and emphasises the desirability of teaching 

 some elementary entomology in schools, with an account of how this 

 is done in British Columbia. 



Division of Zoology and Entomology. — 28th Ann. Rept. 1917-18, 

 Washins,ton State Coll. Agric. Expt. Sta., Pidlman, Bull. 153^ 

 January 1919, pp. 34-38. [Received 31st May 1921.] 



As a result of increased insect activit}^ the cranberry industry in 

 south-western Washington is being threatened, several crops having 

 been already entirely ruined. The chief damage is done by RJiopohota 

 (Eiidemis) vacciniana (black-head fireworm), which, in contrast to its 

 behaviour in the East, is mainly destructive to the fruit. The larvae 

 are most abundant in the latter part of May ; those of the second 

 brood in the middle of August. Larvae of a partial third brood were 

 obser\'ed in September. Tests with various sprays show that a spreader 



