88 



Aug-ust 2, 1900, its occurrence on Aj)ios tuherom, was reported by 

 the late Thomas A. Williams, of this Department. 



Violets and carnations were seriously injured during the last two 

 years in the District of Colum])ia, and we received in a letter dated 

 March 19, 1901, information concernincr general destructiveness b}' 

 this species to strawberry in the vicinit}" to Galloway, Polk County, 

 Fla. Our correspondent, Mr. E. G. Gardner, stated that the mites 

 were always found on the undersid(^ of the leaves. 



IDENTITY OF THE SPECIES; EITERATURE. 



The subject of the specitic identitications of the different species of 

 red spiders which occur in this country, of which there are 11 distinct 

 forms described, together with the characteristics which distinguish 

 them, and other information of more or less technical import, has Ijeen 

 already made public in a paper entitled "The Hed Spiders of the 

 United States," by Mi'. Nathan Banks, published on pages 65-77 of 

 Technical Series No. 8 of this Division. 



T(4 ranychas himaculata-^ was iirst described b}' the late Prof. F. L. 

 Harvey in 1893 (Annual Report Maine State College Agr. Exp. Sta- 

 tion, Part IV, pp. 133-1-14, pi. 3). This account includes valual)le 

 notes on the insect's habits and injuries, a tabulated list of host plants, 

 extracts from correspondence, and a consideration of remedies, besides 

 technical descriptions of the different stages of the species. 



In Galloway's Commercial Violet Culture, already quoted, consider- 

 able space is devoted to a consideration of this specise, mentioned tis 

 " red spider" (pp. 190-li>8), particular attention being given to remedial 

 treatment based upon years of experience with it as it -occurs on 

 violets grown under glass. 



The above-mentioned publications have been freely used in the prep- 

 aration of the present article. 



The species has been treated from the standpoint of an enemy of 

 sugar ])eets, with brief mention of its occurrence on hemp near Tre- 

 raont and Pekin, 111., in 1899 and 1900, on pages 4»>0 and 407 of Bulletin 

 No. 60 of the University of Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station, 

 by Messrs. Forl)es and Hart. 



FOOD PLANTS AND NATURE OF IN.TURY. 



The two-spotted red spider is inclined to be omnivorous, attacking 

 a wide range of ])oth glal)rous and hirsute plants belonging to several 

 families. It is pi-esent in greenhouses throughout the year, and appears 

 to l)e able at all times to be destructive if permitted to propagate. 

 Few plants are, in fact, free from the attack of this red spider, and it 

 is present in most greenhouses. When oidy a few mites are present, 

 the i)lants s(4dom show any external evidences of injury, but as they 



