148 B.C. Entomological Societ.y. 



Nutmeg iveevil. — Another species of the Bruchus family play sad 

 havoc with nutmegs. Shipments have arrived at Vancouver simply riddled 

 and pulverized, and the excavated nuts filled with castings of the insects are 

 not very nice when ground and sold as powdered nutmeg. Such offal has 

 been refused entry into the Province. 



Szvcct-potato Weevil. — Another so-called weevil, but more resembling 

 an ant, is the sweet-potato weevil (Cylas f ormicarius ) . Both sweet 

 potatoes and yams from the Orient have been condemned at Vancouver 

 owing to being infested with this insect. 



Potato-tuhcr Moth. — Shipnients of the common Irish potato from 

 Australia and New Zealand have been condemned for tuber-moth 

 (Phthorimaea operculella). 



The commercial world is just beginning to realize the tremendous waste 

 resulting from the many insects that infest stored products, and fumigation 

 and other methods of combating them are becoming very popular. 

 Thousands of tons of the imported store products referred to have been 

 fumigated at \ancouver during the last fifteen vears. 



MAN'S INFLUENCE ON THE NATIVE FLORA, WITH SPECIAL 

 REFERENCE TO INSECT PESTS. 



Bv J. Davidson, F.L.S., F.B.S.E. 



For many years I \\a.\Q been observing man's influence in changing 

 the local flora from the natural evergreen formation of cedar and Douglas 

 fir to one in which deciduous trees predominate. My attention was first 

 drawn to this about eight years ago during a botanical visit to ttee district 

 between Crescent and White Rock. About that time an accidental fire had 

 spread through a large area of evergreen forest on the bench land along the 

 Coast where maples formed the fringe of the forest. The conifers and 

 many of the maples succumbed to the eft"ects, and the whole area was left 

 a bleak waste of charred logs and burnt soil. The fire occurred when the 

 fruits of the maples were reaching maturity, and though many trees were 

 fatally injured at the crown of the root they were able to ripen and disperse 

 their seeds. Being on the windward side, the seeds were freely distributed 

 over the burnt area, and in the following season millions of maple seedlings 

 gave promise of a change to a deciduous forest. 



A similar change was foimd on logged-over land between Point 

 Roberts and the Indian reserve, where maples, dogwood, and other 

 deciduous trees form a large proportion of the second-growth forest. The 

 change of soil by the additional humus formed by fallen leaves, and the 

 fact that light reaches the forest floor in spring, favoured the increase of 

 flowering plants formerly unable to exist in the darkness of the evergreen 

 forest. 



As is well known, there is a distinct relation between the flora and the 

 fauna. Many of the new plants are food-plants of insects, which in turn 

 provide part of the food of birds. Such areas naturally become breeding- 



