140 



The best means of control is the destruction of over-wintering larvae 

 by ploughing in fallen seeds and cutting and burning roadside plants, 

 while the ravages of the insect can be avoided by producing the seed- 

 crop in early spring before it becomes numerous enough to do damage. 



The midge, Asjphondylia miki, over limited areas may sometimes 

 destroy 25-30 per cent, of the pods, which have been found to contain 

 its small reddish orange larvae, but injury on a large scale has not 

 hitherto been observed. Thrips may attack the crop in such numbers 

 that the flowers fail to set seed, though their damage usually consists, 

 in discolouring the flowers. 



The alfalfa caterpillar, Colias (Eurymus) eurythe'rne, Boisd., is the 

 most serious pest affecting the lucerne hay crop [see this Revieiv, Ser. 

 A, iii, p. 153]. Stictocephala festina, Say (green alfalfa-hopper), causes, 

 some damage, too sHght however to require special methods of control. 

 Grasshoppers, Melanoplus spp., occasionally do considerable damage,, 

 and are best controlled in the egg-stage by winter disking and by the 

 keeping of turkeys. The harvester ant, Pogonomynnex sp., is a most 

 destructive pest, clearing away all the vegetation from a sjDace 

 surrounding the nest, 3 to 20 ft. in diameter. The ants are best 

 destroyed by pouring in and around the opening of each large nest a 

 solution of potassium cyanide (1 oz. dry cyanide to 1 U.S. gal. water). 

 This treatment must be repeated at intervals of 8 to 10 days, as the 

 eggs are not destroyed and continue to hatch out. Lycophotia {Peri- 

 droma) margaritosa (variegated cutworm), a severe outbreak of which 

 occurred in 1911, was found to be so heavily parasitised that no 

 subsequent injury has been caused by it. Hypera {Phyto7iomus\ 

 murina, F. (alfalfa weevil), at present unknown in Arizona, occurs in 

 an adjoining State, and quarantine measures have been taken against 

 the importation of household goods, Uve-stock and hay from infested 

 districts. 



Antoniadis (P.). Recherches sur la Pyrale. [Researches on Sparga- 

 nothis pilleriatia.] — Pr ogres Agric. Vitic., Montpellier, Ixix, no. 1,. 

 6th January 1918, pp. 9-12, 1 fig. 



Sparganothis pilleriana, which hibernates in the larval form in the^ 

 fissures in the bark of the vine, does not affect any part of the stem 

 indiscriminately, but is characterised by a definite distribution. Thus- 

 the larvae decrease in number from the tip to the base of a branch, and 

 are absent from the trunk of the main stem. Consequently the hiding 

 places of the pest are known with certainty, rendering the application 

 of control measures simple and more efficacious. Painting or spraying; 

 the vine with insecticides will be useless unless the ends of the branches 

 are treated ; but if this be done, the insecticide, aided by the action, 

 of rain, will readily reach the lower parts. 



Dopluis op Perzik en Druif. [Scale-Insects on Peach and Vine.] — 

 Meded. Phytopath. Dienst, Wageningen, no. 5, November 1917,. 

 16 pp., 2 plates. 



This bulletin briefly describes the habits of Eulecanium {Leamium) 

 corni, Bch., and Pulvinaria betuhe, L. The former infests peach, plum. 

 Acacia, currant, gooseberry, raspberry, ornamental shrubs, Thuja and 



