Report of the State Entomologist. 101 



form. The skeletonizing of the leaves of the alder by the European 

 insect, of which there are also specimens in the Museum in connection 

 with the insects, was aj)parently, the same as ours. 



Has it been Confounded with Haltica chalybea ? 



Prof. Riley states (in American Entomologist, ii, 1870, pp. 327-8, and 



in the same article reproduced in the 3d Missouri Report, pp. 80-81) 



that the g•ra]^evine ilea-beetle, Haltica chalybea 111., " habitually feeds 



on the alder (Alnu!< serrulafa), as well as on the wild and cultivated 



grai^evine," and that it is " apt to be most troublesome where alder 



abounds in the woods." Is alder a common food-plant of this species, 



or has the larva of H. Imnarginata been mistaken for it ? The two larvse 



resemble one another so closely, that were the figure of H. chalybea, 



given on p. 96, more elongated in proportion to its breadth, it would 



be an excellent representation, in position and proportionate size of 



tubercles and in other features, of ff. btmarginata. This resemblance 



is not traceable in the figure of the larva given in the Third Missouri 



Report. 



Remedies. 



The alder upon which the operations of the beetle have thus far 

 been observed — Alniis serrulata, is a very common road-side and field 

 shrub of extensive distribution, and is seldom regarded as of any 

 special value. If from its introduction in clumps in landscape gar- 

 dening or from employment as hedges, some degree of value may 

 have been given it, attack upon it may readily be checked by spraying 

 the foliage at the commencement of the injury with any of the arsen- 

 ical poisons or with pyrethrum water. 



Crepidodera rufipes (Linn.). 



The Bed-footed Flea-Beetle. 



(Ord. Coleoptera: Fam. CnRYsoMELiDiE.) 



Clirysomela rufipes Linn^us: Syst. Nat., ii, 1767, p. 59-5, No. 65. 



Altica rufipes Fabr. : Syst. Ent., 1775, p. 114, No. 14; Sp. Ins., i, 1781, p. 135, 



No. 108; Mant. Ins., i, 1787, p. 77, No. 140. 

 Crepidodera erxjthropus Melsheimer: in Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil., iii, 



1847, p. 165. 

 Crepidodera rufipes Crotch : in Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil, [xxiv], 1873, p. 71. 

 Crepidodera rufipes Henshaw : List Coleop. N. Amer., 1885, p. 112, No. 6979. 



An Apple-tree Pest. 

 This little beetle, belonging to the group of flea-beetles, which 

 embraces those that by means of their stout hind legs, are able to 

 leap to a considerable distance, is a member of the destructive family 

 of Ghrysomelidce, or leaf-eaters. 



