s4 ANNUAL REPORT. 
feed only upon the leaves of the plants, and seem to prefer the foliage of the 
rose. Camelia Abutilon, azalia, orange and hydrangea to most other plants. 
But the greatest injury, however, is done by the larva, which feeds upon the 
roots of plants and being out of sight their presence is often unsuspected until 
the plants are rumed. They are not only destructive to the rose but equally so- 
to azalius, camehas, castin, geranium, pelargionium, and many other plants en- 
tirely depriving them of their roots. 
I first discovered them in my green house in a pot of cactus that was deposit- 
ed with me to keep over winter. | noticed that towards spring it began to 
shrivel and droop, and no amount of care or water would restore it. I pro- 
ceeded to re-pot it, and that every root was eaten away and that the soil had 
lost its tenacity, and contained thirty or forty whiteish colored maggots. These 
I supposed at the time were only the common white gnats of our gardens, and 
gave them no farther attention at the time. Some years afterward | discovered 
more of them when repotting some old plants of stock geraniums; a closer 
examination led me to suspect that they were the larva of some insect hereto-. 
fore unknown to me, and I immediately commenced an examination. After 
searching every treatise upon entomology that I could get hold of, and finding 
nothing by which I could locate the perfect insect, | secured a number of the 
larva, placed them in soil in a large tumbler kept covered to prevent their: 
escape, I supplied them with fresh roots to feed upon. The experiment was 
commenced in February, and in April | was rewarded with the appearance of 
three specimens of snout beetle, such as I had sometimes seen feeding upon the 
leaves of abutilous and roses. The same year (1877), the Gardener's Monthly 
published on page 263, an article from Peter Henderson headed a new rose bug,. 
describing this insect and the injury it was doing in the green houses about 
New York. In 1878 C€. V. Riley took the study of this insect in hand, and its 
habits are becoming better known, for ful] description habits, &c., see report of 
Entomologists in report department Agriculture for 1878. [tis probable that 
the Armrijus is more generally present and is doing more damage in the green 
houses of the west than is generally supposed. It is well for those who keep. 
flowers to be on the watch for it, picking off and destroying the beetle when- 
ever found. As no remedy is known that would affect the larva in their work, 
whenever their presence is suspected, the plants should be immediately repotted 
into fresh soil, care being taken to remove that in which they have grown, 
entirely from the roots. It is hoped that this insect will confine itself to plants 
kept in the house and conservatory, otherwise it would become one of the great- 
est pests of the country. The beetles are very tenacious of life and may be 
transported to all parts of the country without food. I have kept them alive in 
bottles several weeks witout feeding. 
Joun 8. Harris, 
June 17th, 1881. La Cressent, Minn. 
DISCUSSION. 
Mr. Peffer reported ravages of the cabbage worm in Wisconsin. 
He had caught the white millers and saved the crop for two years, 
but last season he had only been able to save his early cabbages. 
Thinks we cannot get rid of them except to let them have their 
