REPORT OF TEE ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANIST ^ 171 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



livi^^g weevils which might be contained in them, and the present satisfactory state of 

 affairs emphasizes the importance of treating all seed before sowing it, and of insist- 

 ing that all who sell pease should attend to this matter. If a little more effort is^now 

 put forth, I see no reason why the Pea Weevil should not be entirely wiped out in On- 

 tario. The remedies which will, in my opinion, effect this, were given at length in 

 my last report, and consist of sowing early, so as to hurry on maturity as soon as pos- 

 sible, reaping directly the crop is in a fit condition, threshing and fumigating with bi- 

 sulphide of carbon at once and then bagging up the seed and keeping it in bags until 

 required for use. If it is not considered convenient to fumigate the seed before 

 sowing, all the weevils can be destroyed by sprinkling a little coal oil or turpentine 

 over the seed and turning it well for two or three days before sowing, or the seed may 

 be held over till the second year, when it will be quite free from weevils, because these 

 always emerge at latest by the spring of the year following the season when they 

 develop. 



The Grain Aphis (Nectaropliora granaria, 'KiThy=zjSipho7iophora avence, Fab.). — 

 The only insect which was complained of as having occurred in undue numbers on 

 cereal crops during the past year was the well known Grain Aphis, or ' green fly.' There 

 is no doubt that where this occurred early in the season some injury was done to grow- 

 ing wheat and oats, but for the most part, although the aphides were exceptionally 

 abundant, the usual parasites accompanied them, and in a short time they entirely 

 disappeared. 



* Aweme, Man. — The Grain Aphis was extremely abundant on wheat and oats this 

 year. They attracted our attention daring the first week in July and later they were 

 so plentiful that they wetted all the front part of the binder canvases, on which they 

 could be gathered up in handf uls. Mr. Sutcliffe, of Treesbank, tells me that they were 

 so abundant on his oats that they actually stopped the binder. On looking beneath 

 the canvases, he found the rollers simply packed with smashed up plant-lice. These 

 insects undoubtedly did considerable harm this year by sapping the vitality of the 

 plants, thus preventing the heads from filling as well as they should have dona As 

 usual, numerous parasites were present with these and the many other kinds of a.phis 

 which appeared on various plants this year. By the end of the season, the parasites 

 had almost extenninated these.' — Norman Criddle. 



Samples and reports of the presence of the Grain Aphis were sent in from many 

 places in Manitoba and eastern points in the North-west Territories, as well as from 

 a few places much further west. It was reported as being unduly abunda-it in Mani- 

 toba, at Bagot, by Mr. Eli Roberts; at Portage la Prairie, by Mr. Jamss Tl.ompson, 

 and at Miami, by Mr. Thos. Renwick, who spoke of it as general thxougliDut that dis- 

 trict. The farthest point west where injury was done was at Beaver Dale, N.W.T. 

 (34.26.Y west of 2nd meridian), from which place epecimens were sent by Mr. Geo. 

 Femie. At Ottawa large numbers of the Grain Aphis were found on wheat and oatci 

 at the end of July, and it was noticed in the experimental plots here that certiin 

 varieties of wheat were more attractive to the insect than others. As a general thing, 

 the bearded varieties were found in this observation to be much less infested than bald 

 wheats. In every instance, large numbers of parasites were found present with speci- 

 mens sent in for examination. In our Ottawa fields these were represented by the 

 following species of Hymenoptera : Asaphes vulgaris. Walk., 

 Lygocerus niger, How., Xystus (Allotria) tritici, Fitch, Aphi- 

 dius avence, Fitch, Pachy neuron, sp. There 

 were also numerous specimens of the com- 

 mon coccinellids Adalia hipunctata, L., 

 Eippodamia convergens, Guer., and the 



»,.*'. T *■ X.. ^^ Thirteen-spotted Lady-bird Beetle {Hippo- „. „ r^J^o Z^^.^^ 



Fig. 1.— Lady-bird Bee- j ' -.o i -t t\ j j; j.i tt Fig. 2.~The 13-spottea 



tie: o, larva; 6, pupa; damm 13-punctata, L.), and of the Hover- Lady-bird Beetle— 



e, perfect insect. ing Fly Syrphus rihesii, L. enlarged. 



