22 FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



sect attack. How is it possible, in view of the fact that entomology, 

 as a science, is but about a hundred years old, and that applied ento- 

 mology had its birth among us within the life-time of most of tiiose 

 now engaged in its study, to tell just how to deal with every insect of 

 the thousands that annoy or injure us, when of many we even do not 

 know their names, and of most of their number, their habits and 

 transformations in full. By far too much is expected by the public. 

 The small number of workers and the brief time that they have been 

 engaged in their investigations should be considerativcly borne in 

 mind. Much has been accomplished thus far, as some of the following 

 considerations will show. 



3. The Acquisition of Life-histories. 



I have already referred to the importance of a knowledge of the life- 

 histories of our insects, the difficulties attending their acquisition, and 

 the long study that they often demand. It is desirable iji a scientific 

 point of view that a species should be known in each of its stages, and 

 frequently it is only through a study of the earlier phases that we are 

 able to decide upon the claim of a form to specific recognition. But in the 

 domain uf economic entomology, an acquaintance with the larval stage 

 is of paramount importance, as this is the especial period of insect in- 

 jury. Many of our entomologists are now actively engaged in these 

 studies, under the incentive of a conviction that the student who pre- 

 sents a complete life-history of a single species makes a more valuable 

 contribution than does the discoverer and the describer of a score of 

 hitherto unknown forms. Within the last few years, Mr. W. H. Ed- 

 wards of Coalburgh, W. Va., has worked out and given us the histories 

 of the larger number of our butterflies east of the Mississippi, and other 

 authors have made us acquainted with the histories of many of our 

 motlis. Directions are no longer given for destroying "the cut- worm," 

 for instead of its being a single species to be dealt with in a certain man- 

 ner, as formerly believed, we now know the moths of nearly three 

 hundred species, which differ so greatly in their habits and transfor- 

 mations that each one needs separate study, and the several groups, 

 greatly differing treatment. Growing attention is paid to the discovery 

 and description of the larvae of the Coleoptera, commonly known as 

 grubs, and chargeable with injuries equal in amount to those of the 

 Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths). Mr. F. G. Schaupp, of the 

 Brooklyn Entomological Society, has contributed several papers to the 

 Bulletin of the society, describing a number of hitherto unknown 

 forms, and collecting the descriptions of previously described species.* 



*See also, Horn, in Trans. Amer. Etd. Soc, vii, 1878, pp. 28-40. 



