130 



as lacking proof. Under normal conditions, L. 7nacu1a never frequents 

 healthy trees, bnt, together with other species, feeds on the fruit bodies 

 of the fungus, and on some trees from 50 to 75 per cent, of the 

 cankerous area has been found to be eaten clean of pustules. Of the 

 three other beetles stated to be carriers of spores, all are known to feed 

 on dead wood and therefore are not likely to frequent living trees. 

 Certain important insects, e.g., the beetle, Lepfiira nitens, are not 

 mentioned in the investigations. This insect, which is certainly of 

 importance in carrying spores to healthy trees, becomes less so as the 

 infections grow older, owing to its increasing tendency to breed in and 

 frequent diseased trees to the exclusion of healthy ones. Other insects 

 Avhich come under this category are several species of Aegeriid moths, 

 although in these cases adaptation to a life in cankerous tissue has 

 not developed to so great an extent. In many instances blight has 

 been fomid in wounds made by cicadas and tree-hoppers. These 

 insects may carry the spores and directly inoculate the wound, but this 

 is improbable, since insects of this kind normally frequent healthy 

 trees. In view of the established facts that the ascospores are carried 

 by the wind and the pycnospores are washed down the trunks by the 

 rain, the role played by insects in the transmission of the disease by 

 carrying the spores is probably insignificant. The wounds in the 

 cambium caused by insects, where spores can gain entrance, are far 

 more important. Certain insects which frequent diseased trees and 

 feed on the spores must be regarded as beneficial. 



Leonard (M. D.). The Immature Stages of two Hemiptera, 

 Enipoasca obtusa, Walsh (Typhlocybidae) and Lopidea rohiniae, 

 Uhler (Capsidae).- -£'n^o?>i. Neivs, PJiiladelphia, xxvii, no. 2, 

 February 1916, pp. 49-54, 2 plates. 



The early stages of Empoasca obtusa and Lopidea rcbiniae are 

 described in this paper. E. obtusa spends the winter in the egg-stage 

 on twigs of Populus deUoides, Marsh (common Cottonwood) and of 

 Popuhis nigra ilalica, Du Roi (Lombardy poplar). L. rohiniae was 

 observed on the leaves of Rohinia pseudacacia, L. (common locust). 



Amundsen (E. 0.)- The Mexican Bean Weevil.— M?%. Bull. Cal. 

 State Commiss. Ilortic, Sacramento, v, no. 1, January 1916, 

 pp. 33-34, 3 figs. 



The Mexican bean known as " Guamuchilc " is often found 

 infested by Brnchas li)nbalus. The beans are pulp-covered and 

 aie produced in pods four to six inches long. The beetle's eggs are 

 laid upon the pods while the latter are quite small, and the larvae, 

 shortly after hatching, bore into the pods and into the beans. The 

 hole in the growing bean soon closes i;p with the larvae remaining 

 inside and continuing to feed. Just before entering the pupal stage, 

 the larva eats its way to the outer membrane of the bean, leaving a 

 thin skin through which the adult can easily push its way when 

 emerging. Fumigation with carbon bisulphide is generally recognised 

 as the best treatment for infested beans. It appears to be impossible 

 to prevent oviposition in the pods in the field, but to reduce attack. 



