14 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 
Lectures. The Entomologist has delivered a number of lectures 
on insects, mostly economic species, before various agricultural and 
horticultural gatherings, some of these being in cooperation with 
farmers institutes or county farm bureau agents. Several lectures 
have also been given under the auspices of local welfare associations. 
Publications. Brief popular accounts of the more destructive 
insects have been prepared as heretofore and widely circulated 
through the county farm bureaus and the local papers. 
Owing to delay in printing, the report for 1916 did not appear 
until the current year and is the only Museum bulletin on entomology 
issued in the period covered by this report. A paper of more than 
usual interest, ‘‘ Insects and Camp Sanitation,’’ was prepared for 
the Journal of Economic Entomology. <A general popular discussion 
entitled ‘‘ Gall Insects and Their Relations to Plants ”’ appeared in 
the June issue of the Scientific Monthly. A popular summary of 
losses caused by insects and the possibilities in control measures 
was published in State Service under the title ‘“‘ Insects Destroy 
Millions in Property.’’ The need of continuing entomological 
investigations even under war conditions was presented under the 
title . ‘‘ Entomological Research and Utility’”’ in the Scientific 
Monthly. There were also several technical papers describing gall 
midges. 
Collections. Very desirable additions to the state collections 
have been made through the year, some of the best material being 
reared in connection with studies of insect outbreaks or as a result 
of requests for information concerning previously unknown forms. 
Special attention has been paid to the acquisition and preservation 
of immature stages, since these are very difficult to secure. A 
noteworthy donation of this character was that from Instructor 
C. P. Alexander of the University of Kansas, widely known because 
of his work on the Tipulidae. It comprises a series of larvae and 
pupae of representative crane flies belonging to eleven genera and 
sixteen species. A list of these is given under accessions to the 
collections. A recent communication from Mr Alexander states 
that we have one of the foremost collections of crane flies in America 
— largely due to the efforts of Mr Young. 
Unusual demands for the identification of insects and information 
in regard to methods of control, partly a result of war conditions, has 
restricted the amount of time which could be given to the identifica- 
tion and arrangement of the collections. This latter is necessary, 
otherwise collections may be simply miscellaneous aggregations of 
unknown material of comparatively little service to anyone. 
