80 



range of food- plants may probably be explained by the theory of 

 the existence of different biological strains [R.A.E., A, v, 441 ; vii, 356]. 

 The Nematodes apparently enter the plants at the surface of the 

 ground, at first attacking the stipules of the leaves and later the stems. 

 Malformations of the plant are the result, and these are most marked 

 in the autumn and early winter. The death of the plants is usually 

 hastened by secondary agents, including a mite, Rhizoglyphus 

 rhizophagus, Bnks., a Mycetophilid, Sciara trifolii, Pett., and a 

 weevil, Silones hispidulus, Germ. The chief injury is caused during 

 the second year after seeding, when both Nematodes and other insects 

 are most abundant. 



Brooks (F. E.). U.S. Bur. Entom. A migrating Army of Millepedes. 

 — Jl. Econ. Entom., Concord, N. H. xii, no. 6, December 1919, 

 pp. 4G2-464. 



Attention is drawn to the sudden appearance of a great army of 

 millipedes, Fontaria virginiensis, Drury, in West Virginia. The 

 army, estimated to consist of over 65 million individuals, had probably 

 migrated to a farm from the neighbouring woodland and covered 

 at least 75 acres of land. The water in the infested district was 

 contaminated, the springs being filled to a depth of from 6 to 8 inches 

 with drowned millipedes. The invasion passed in a southerly direction, 

 but stumps, posts, rails and decaying boards all bore evidence of 

 its passage, as they were gnawed white in many places and covered 

 with excrement. Previous invasions of Fontaria brunnea In straw- 

 berry beds, where it feeds on the over-ripe fruit, are also recorded. 



Zetek (J.), The Cocoanut Butterfly, Brassolis isikmia, on Banana. — 

 Jl. Econ. Entom., Concord, N. H. xii, no. 6, December 1919, 

 p. 465. 



Attention is drawn to the readiness with which larvae of Brassolis 

 isthmia, Bates, will attack banana leaves in the Panama Canal Zone, 

 though this butterfly is principally a pest of coconut plams. 



Remedial measures advocated include burning of the nests in the 

 palms and the use of an arsenical spray. 



LEGISLATION. 



Per la Dlfesa deU'Agricoltura algerina. [In Defence of Algerian 

 Agriculture.] — L'Agric. Colon., Florence, xiii, no. 11, 30th November 

 1919, pp. 483-485. 



On 14th August 1919 the existing Algerian law against Phylloxera 

 was modified. One clause of the new law places the importation into 

 Algeria of vines or other material on which the insect might be 

 introduced under the authority of the Governor General, who may, 

 on the advice of the Minister for Agriculture, prohibit the importation 

 or order the destruction of such material. 



