393 



Ann. Eept. Insects Mass., pp. ^-S), under the name of Limotlirips fritici, 

 whicli, hoNvever, is neither a Limothrips nor Thrips tritici Fitch. Dr. 

 Packard states that Mr. B. P. Ware, of Swampscott, Mass., had suf- 

 fered a serious loss from the attacks of this insect; that he had noticed 

 it on his onions for the hist fifteen years, but that the damage in 1872 

 was greater than ever before, and that the evil appeared to be equally 

 serious in other parts of Essex County, especially in Lynn, Salem, and 

 parts of Danvers. He estimated that at least one-tenth of the crop of 

 one season, amounting to $10,000, was destroyed by this new pest, in 

 Essex County alone. 



The next authentic record of a Thrips upon onion plants was on the 

 island of Bermuda, and was published by Prof. A. E. Shipley, of Cam- 

 bridge, England, in Bulletin 10 of Miscellaneous Information, Eoyal 

 Gardens, 1S87 (p. 18), with the remark, however, that it appeared to 

 cause but little injury. 



Two years later another account of the injurious work of the onion 

 Thrips was published by Dr. Eoland Thaxter (Ann. Eept. Conn. Agr. 

 Exp. St. for 1889, p. 180) in the following words : 



The white blast of market onions is the most serious disease to which onions in the 

 iiekl have been subjected this year, and has been reported from numerous localities 

 and observed in all the onion districts which have been visited. The injury gives 

 the field a whitish appearance, which starts in one or more spots and spreads in all 

 directions. The onions themselves become stunted in their growth, Avhile the leaves 

 are more or less completely dying, according to the severity of the attack; becoming 

 water-soaked at the base if the weather be at all wet, inducing decay, and generally 

 injuring the keeping quality of the bulbs. 



In addition to the above I have seen several other references to what 

 is without doubt this same species. 



In the Annual Keport of the Colorado Experiment Station for 1892 

 (p. 36) the following note from the peu of Mr. C. P. Gillette, station en- 

 tomologist, appears: "The ouion Thrips {Thrips striata 0%b A) was 

 extremely abundant on the college grounds [Fort Collius] the past 

 summer and fall, and has been reported as a pest at Greeley, Colo. 

 Thousands of these Thrips were present on single onion tops in the 

 college garden.'' In the reiDort for 1893 (p. 55) this insect is again 

 reported as exceedingly abundant at Fort Collius and Denver. In 

 Bulletin 21 of the Colorado station, published the same year, a three- 

 page account of this insect is given, including a description of the 

 species, with illustrations. Mr. Gillette adds that should the species 

 prove to be new, the name Limothrips allii be aj^plied to it. Mention 

 is here made also of an article on this subject by Mr. C. F. Baker, 

 published in volume Yii of the American Florist (p. 168). 



Dr. J. A. Lintner, in his ninth JSTew York Eeport, for 1892, (p. 145), 

 mentions a Thrips from Kingston, Pa., attacking the leaves of cabbage 

 and cauliflower in. large numbers, which evidently also belongs to this 

 species. 



In the Annual Eeport of the Xew Jersey Agricultural College Experi- 

 ment Station for 1893 (p. 411), Dr. J. B. Smith states that the onion 



