24 



more northerly government of Saratov, this stage lasts four weeks. 

 The process of oviposition was not observed, but, though Schreiner has 

 stated that the female deposits her eggs on the stem into which the 

 larva bores, the author believes that the female gnaws an opening in 

 the wall of the stem and prepares a cell in which it lays one or some- 

 times two eggs. Oviposition takes place in the second part of June and 

 the larvae appear in the first half of July. The larvae usually mine 

 downwards and become mature in the first half of September. The 

 only remedy is to dig out the plants, roots and all, and destroy them 

 by burning ; this must be done in autumn or early in spring in order 

 to kill the hibernating larvae. 



Pliginsky (V.). OnpefituMTe/ib pyccKMXi. KOwetflOB-b. [Key to 

 the Identification of Russian Dermestidae.] — « JlioSMTeJlb 

 npMpOflbl.» [Friend of Nature], Petrograd, xi, no. 6-7, June- July 

 1916, pp. 159-170. 



This key to the Dermestids deals with the species in the following 

 genera : — Dermestes, L. ; Mo7itmidonia, Jaquet ; Atiagentis, Latr. 

 Megatoma, Hbst. ; Glohicornis, Latr. ; Phradonoma, J. Duv. 

 Trogoderma, Latr. ; Ctesias, Steph. ; Anthrenus, F. ; Trinodes, Latr. 

 and OrpJiilus, Fr. 



GORIAINOV (A.). OnblTbl CTj HtKOTOpblMM paCTMTenbHblMM M MMHe- 

 panbHblMM MHCeKTMCMflaHM. [Experiments with some Vegetable 

 and Mineral Insecticides.]— «3aiJ4MTa paCTeHJK OT"b BpefiMie- 



neM.» [The Protection, of Plants from Pests], Supplement to 

 « JlroSmejlb npHpOfibl.» [Friend of Nahire], Petrograd, 1916, 

 no. 1-2 (28-29), pp. 1-28. [Received 22nd November 1916.] 



The experiments described in this paper were carried out at the 

 Entomological Bureau of Riazan during 1915. The rise in price of 

 the more commonly used insecticides and fungicides, which has taken 

 place since the beginning of the War, induced the Bureau to experiment 

 on some vegetable decoctions with a view to replacing the more 

 expensive and, in some cases unobtainable, mineral insecticides. 

 The method of investigation consisted of feeding the insects, kept 

 either in wire cages or in glass vessels covered with gauze, on food- 

 plants moistened with the various decoctions, the food being changed 

 every day. The decoctions were roughly prepared by drying the 

 plants for some days in the open, and then chopping them up and 

 boiling them with water for from three to five hours in an earthenware 

 or iron vessel. Before boiling, the plants were weighed and the 

 quantity of the strained decoction was afterwards measured. 

 Decoctions of different strengths of wormwood {Artemisia absinthium) 

 were tried on caterpillars of Aporia. crataegi, Vanessa urticae, and 

 Pieris brassicae, but the results were not satisfactory, except in com- 

 bination with poultry dung, when it was more effective. The extract 

 in this case was prepared as follows : A young plant was dried in the 

 open for three days and then chopped up and boiled for 2;^ hours, by 

 which means 290 cc. of the decoction were obtained from 50 grms. of 

 the plant ; 125 gms. of poultry dung was extracted separately in a 

 tumbler of water for 10 hours ; 50 cc. of the wormwood decoction 



