153 



same wounds as a possible explanation of the apparent long life-cycle 

 of the insect. He also said that Mr. Walsh had reached conclusions 

 similar to his own in the matter of the potato-scab larvne, many years ago. 



Mr. Kane, referring to the subject of parasitism, and to the particu- 

 lar case noticed by Mr. Hopkins, said that we had here an undoubted 

 instance of the great value of parasites in the case of this lettuce crop, 

 injury to which by the aphis was limited to the first crop, and in all 

 the later croppings the louse was kept in almost complete check by 

 parasites, so that no difficulty whatever was experienced. 



The President read a letter from Mr. F. M. Webster, stating that he 

 would be unable to attend the meeting on account of his active opera- 

 tions in attempting to stamp out the Fidia larvae about the roots of 

 grax)es by the use of bisulphide of carbon. 



Mr. Howard then read the following paper: 



THE EASTERN OCCURRENCES OF THE SAN JOSlfi SCALE. 



By L. O. Howard, Washington, D. C. 



During the first week in August, 1893, Mr. B. T. Galloway, chief of 

 the Division of Vegetable Pathology of the Department of Agriculture, 

 brought me a pear which had been sent him by Dr. C. H. Hedges, of 

 Charlottesville, Ya., on account of what the sender supposed to be 

 a fungus disease. I nearly jumped out of my seat at the fiyst glance 

 at this pear, for I immediately recognized that scourge of western 

 orchards, the San Jose scale {AHpidiotus perniciosus Comst.), with which 

 Eastern entomologists had, up to that time, been made familiar only 

 through publications of the California State Board of Horticulture, 

 and the writings of Prof. Comstock and Mr. D. W. Coquillett. As 

 soon as possible, I informed Prof Riley of the fact, and he wrote to 

 the owner of the affected trees warning him of the serious nature of 

 the insect, and also to the State Board of Agriculture of Virginia, 

 announcing the appearance of the scale in their State. Two weeks 

 later he presented a note on the insect at the Madison meeting of this 

 association. Meeting Prof. W. B. Alwood, entomologist and botanist 

 to the Virginia State Experiment Station, in Chicago, on the 20th of 

 August, I also informed him of the occurrence of the insect at Char- 

 lottesville, in order that he might take steps looking towards its exter- 

 mination. Two assistants in the Division of Entomology, Messrs. E. 

 A. Schwarz and D. W. Coquillett, were sent by Prof. Riley to Charlottes- 

 ville at different times in the autumn to examine into the exact condi- 

 tions, and to report upon the number of infested trees and the means 

 by which the insect jirobably became introduced. The reports of 

 these two gentlemen were published in Insect Life, that of Mr. 

 Schwarz in volume vi, p. 247, and that of Mr. Coquillett in the same 

 number, beginning on p. 253. It aj)peared from their examinations 

 that the insect was very limited in its extent; that the few spraying 



