This office lias been appealed to in both 1907 and 1908 for stig- 

 gesrions leading to relief from the presence of ants in household and 

 garden. Lawns have been injured and in some places ruined by the 

 White Grub. The irritating Harvest Mite, Leptus irritans, although 

 nearly invisible to the naked eye, has, tiny as it is, placed a ban on 

 picnic parties, ladies and children particularly being subject to attack. 

 Frequently the work of this tiny mite is thought to be "rash" or 

 "hives." Red blotches appear on the skin, accompanied by an almost 

 unbearable itching, which lasts for several days. 



The Apple Leaf Hopper, Empoasca niali, has been active in nurs- 

 eries, possibly not so bad in 1908 as in 1907, and has, at the request 

 of the U. S. Department of Agriculture at Washington, been made the 

 subject of special work by the Entomologist under the Adams Fund. 

 Various other apple tree insects have been in evidence, and numerous 

 complaints of the Plum Leaf Gall Mite have been received. 



Shade trees have suffered materially in different localities from a 

 number of pests. Elms have been affected with lice which are peculiar 

 to that tree. Some oak trees were devastated, notably in Otter Tail 

 and Wadena counties, by the Oak-leaf Caterpillar. The Stalk Borer 

 (different species of Papaipcma) has again injured flower gardens. 



The Fall Web Worm has been locally destructive and on the in- 

 crease. Press Bulletin 28, issued from this office in November, 1907, 

 deals with this pest. In 1908 oak trees suffered from the Oak Tree 

 Pruner. Box elder and maples have been attacked by a Maple Twig 

 Borer, reared to the moth stage in the insectary, which may prove to 

 be a new species. Young ash trees in at least one nursery have been 

 destroyed by the hundreds through the work of one of the Stalk Borers, 

 Papaipema furcata, this caterpillar boring in the soft center ; and large 

 ash trees in one locality have been riddled by a boring Sesiid, Acgerla 

 fraxina, tunneling in the solid wood. As we go to press, also, cuttings 

 from birches which have been killed through the work of the Birch 

 Borer, Agrilus auxins, have been left at the office. The Poplar Beetle, 

 Lina scripta, has been in evidence, eating the leaves of these trees. A 

 borer in locusts, Cyllene robiniae, has also been very troublesome. 



In connection with shade tree pests we have been frequently con- 

 sulted by the forester of the Minneapolis City Park Board, Mr. C. N. 

 Ruedlinger, and have extended to him, and through him the Park 

 Board, all the assistance possible. 



Grapes have, as usual, suffered from the attacks of various insects, 

 the fruit being attacked by a Grape Fruit Worm, and the leaves by 

 the Grape Vine Flea Beetle, Haltica chalyhea, and the Grape Phyllox- 



