308 



was not recorded before June. The insect is not injurious in the 

 larval stage, but the adult is a serious menace to small fruits, orchards, 

 cereal and forage crops and other plants. It is practically omnivorous, 

 skeletonising the leaves of the food-plant. In Japan it is of small 

 importance, being controlled by natural conditions, natural enemies 

 or both ; but without this control it may easily become a pest of 

 prime importance in almost any community. It is hard to control 

 artificially as it is a strong flier and is easily carried in vehicles, on the 

 person and on marketable foodstuffs, plants, etc. It feeds on almost 

 any plant, and the weeds by the road-side form a network of food- 

 plants that assist its spread all over the country. It multiplies rapidly 

 and the greater part of its life is spent under ground where it is difficult 

 to reach. 



The present limits of its infestation in New Jersey are as accurately 

 known as careful work can make them. Scouting has been undertaken, 

 the beetle has been well advertised, and all reports of its occurrence 

 outside the known area carefully followed up. The project at present 

 is to prevent the further spread of the insect and at the same time to 

 discover practical control measures. The conditions in Japan are to 

 be studied in the hope of finding parasites, and the introduction of a 

 colony of English pheasants, which are very fond of the beetle, is 

 planned. Various measures have been designed to prevent the spread 

 of the insect. Quarantine covering green maize, in which the beetle 

 is often carried, has already proved effective, and will be strictly 

 enforced. The roadside clean-up [R.A.E., vii, 511] will be reinforced 

 by the use of salt to prevent re-growth : and the half-mile barrier [loc. 

 ciL] will be maintained, hme-sulphur being now used as a repellent so 

 as to avoid poisoning cattle. Aeroplane photographs of the ground 

 are to be used to assist in planning out the work. As the full estimated 

 cost of all this work has not been granted by the Government, it will 

 be necessary to enlist the co-operation of in'lividual farmers in carry- 

 ing it out. 



To reduce the numbers of the beetles, hand collection, which accoun- 

 ted for a milhon and a half in 1919, will be encouraged, and soil insecti- 

 cide operations with sodium cyanide, which are too expensive for 

 general use, will be applied where grub infestation is heavy. 



Observations of the life-history indicate that most poisons do not 

 kill the beetle, but act as repellents. Certain odours are very at- 

 tractive to it ; most of them disappear too soon to be effective in 

 combination with poison-sprays, but one of them, iron arsenate, which 

 is too feebly poisonous to be effective itself, may well form an efficient 

 combination with another poison. 



Infested ground should be ploughed in the autumn and again ploughed 

 or cultivated as deeply as possible in late May and in June when the 

 metamorphoses are taking place. This, hke all the other points in 

 the control measures, depends for its success on the faithful co-operation 

 of all the residents in and around the infested area. 



Hadley (C. H.). The Green Japanese Beetle Quarantine. — Jl. Econ. 

 Entom., Concord, N.H., xiii, no. 2, April 1920, pp. 198-201. 



In this paper the quarantine restrictions mentioned in the preceding 

 paper are described in detail. It was found that there is great danger 



