493 



due, not only to the number of moths present, but chiefly to atmo- 

 spheric conditions. Cool, windy weather is unfavourable, as it keeps 

 the moths from flying any distance, reduces the evaporation of the 

 trap-Uquid and interferes with the regular stream of odours from it. 

 Traps placed along paths at the end of a row of stocks, or in sheltered 

 spots, give better results than others. In certain instances an exceed- 

 ingly large catch is made by one trap and the disproportion between 

 it and the catches of adjacent traps is too great to be due to chance, 

 nor can it be attributed to any specific difference in the successful 

 trap. Such exceptional catches are beheved to be due to a biological 

 phenomenon connected with sex attraction. It is well known that 

 the females of many insects, particularly Lepidoptera, attract the 

 males from afar, and when an examination of traps \\dth exceptional 

 catches was made, it was found that the most typical cases occurred 

 towards the end of the flight period, when unmated females were rare, 

 and that exceptional catches always included one of these female > 

 together with a very high proportion of males. In one case, 54 

 males, 2 females which had deposited nearly all their eggs and 1 

 unmated female, were found in one trap. 



Les Correspondants du Service des Epiphyties. [The correspondents of 

 the French Plant Protection Service.] — Bull. Soc. Etude Vulg. 

 Zool. Agric, Bordeaux, xv, no. 8, August 1916, pp. 90-92. 



Acting on a report made by M, Roux, Director of Sanitary and 

 Scientific Services, the French Minister of Agriculture has pubUshed 

 an order instituting correspondents of the French Plant Protection 

 service. These correspondents, who will not be paid, are to be chosen 

 from amongst agriculturists and other persons interested in agricul- 

 tural matters. They will report to the district plant inspection 

 officer and in cases where he receives from them specimens of pests 

 of importance, he will forward these to the proper research station. 

 By this means a pest will be reported as soon as noticed, so that 

 measures may be taken against it without delay. 



SiJAzov (A.). Hit Siojioriii HtKOTopbixii BpeAHbixi* HactKOMbixi* 

 TypKeciaHa. [On the biology of some insect pests of Turkestan 

 — « TypKeciaHCKoe CenbCKoe Xosamctbo.^ [Agricidture of Turk- 

 estan], Tashkent, xi, no. 4, April & May 1916, pp. 296-392 

 (first part). [Received 26th September 1916.] 



Melasoma j)Oindi,'L.,h not usually a dangerous pest, but incases of 

 large outbreaks, it seriously defoliates poplar trees. Such an out- 

 break occurred in 1915, when both the beetles and their larvae did great 

 damage to poplars. The hibernating beetles usually appear towards 

 the end of March, the eggs being laid in large heaps, and the whole 

 development from egg to imago lasting one month. Spraying with 

 Paris green is suggested against this beetle, if the expense is justified. 



The hibernating larvae of Pohjdrosus dohrni, Fst., are found in the 

 middle of March in the soil underneath apple, pear and cherry trees, 

 at a depth of 7-14 inches ; they are distinguished from those of Rhyn- 

 chites auratus, found also under cherry trees, bv their narrow bodies 



