AND OTHER INJURIOUS INSl-XTS OF I907 AND I908. I57 



In the course of some investigations on this pest we found (Aug. 

 4, 1908) in wooded areas about Lake Minnetonka, large numbers of 

 tiny mites on a species of goldenrod as well as other low plants, in no 

 case more than fourteen inches above ground. On this occassion an 

 assistant, Dr. Franklin, and myself, did all we could to be inoculated, 

 walking amongst the shrubbery and weeds, reclining on them, rolling 

 up sleeves. Dr. Franklin even taking off his shoes and stockings. Up- 

 on returning home, in order to test the efficacy of a preventive meas- 

 ure, one of us took a bath immediately, covering the body with a soapy 

 lather, and putting on afterwards a change of clothes throughout, dis- 

 carding" for the time being everything worn in the woods. In this case 

 the bathed one did not sutTer, nor, strange to say, did the non-bathed, 

 who served as a ''check" on the experiment. However, as the "check," 

 from experiments later, appears to be immune, and the writer is ordi- 

 narily a sufferer, it is fair to conclude that the above treatment is good. 

 We believe that these pests were not as abundant at the date mentioned 

 as they had been earlier in the season. 



On August 5th, leaves known to be infested with a mite were 

 placed next to the skin up the writer's sleeve and allowed to remain 

 there several hours. This resulted in three or four infested spots on 

 arm and shoulder, showing about twenty-four hours later. 



On August 11th, we again tried to tempt this pest, and on August 

 12th, about thirty-two hours after exposure, a few red blotches ap- 

 peared on the body of the writer. In the center of each a tiny red or 

 orange spot could be observed with a magnifying glass, which we en- 

 deavored to dissect out for examination under the microscope, but 

 without any definite result. The red globular body may be the body of 

 the mite, or, as some claim, only a blister filled with the victim's blood. 

 This remains to be seen. We applied Dioxygen, full strength, to two 

 or three blotches a few times at intervals, and this appeared to allay 

 the itching, though we hesitate to recommend it until a further trial. 



"Jiggers'' were noted as late as the last w^eek in August, and it 

 would seem that most of our woods are not desirable places to picnic 

 from early summer until September, unless one takes certain precau- 

 tions to prevent the disagreeable attacks of this creature. 



We will call this little pest Leptus irritaiis, though it may be a 

 stage of Troinbidiuiii. The Order of Mites contains such pests as itch- 

 mites, scab mites, mange-producing mites, sheep-scab mites, as well as 

 some forms which, at certain stages at least, are beneficial to man be- 

 cause of their preying upon grasshoppers or locusts and upon house 

 flies. The writer has seen a bright red mite, Troiiibidiuui seabrum Say, 



