142 



Note ou a Leaf-hopper. 



Inclosed find specimens of insects which I find feeding on the California Hedge 

 Plant. They are new in this city, this year being their first appearance. Their rav- 

 ages are apparent, though not yet serious. — [Henry Allison, Texas, July 2, 1889. 



Reply. — The insect which feeds upon your " California Hedge Plant" is one of the 

 leaf-hoppers known as Ormenis pruinosa. The best remedy for this insect will be the 

 application of a dilute kerosene emulsion made according to the formula given upon 

 page 3 of Circular No. 1, new series. — [July 8, 1891.] 



Destructiveness of the Corn-root Plant-louse in Nebraska. 



I write these few lines to mention the destructiveness of these lice ou our com 

 crop of the last season. Some signs of their destructiveness were noticed last year, 

 when they were so small that only a good eye could see them. They were light green in 

 color. As they grew in size for two or three weeks, their color changed to a light yellow, 

 and then they disappeared, I do not know where. As the corn became an inch or 

 two high we noticed it began to turn in color from a healthy green to a sickly yellow. 

 This was only in jilaces. On close examination the roots of the corn plants were 

 found to be infested by scores of these little green lice. They continued their de- 

 structive work for a month or more, thus killing or spoiling each plant upon which 

 they fed. They did not eat the plant, but only sapped it through the thin portions 

 of the epidermis. They worked in spots of from one-half to 10 acres in a place, all 

 through the corn fields of this section of the country. Where they worked the corn 

 is a failure. Some farmers have lost as high as one-third of their crop, while others 

 have lost but a trifle. In all, the amount destroyed by these lice would amount to 

 a greater quantity than would be believed. 



So far no eft'ectual remedy is known, but a new mode of planting corn is looked to 

 as being the only way of getting rid of these pests. I have noticed that when corn 

 was planted on ground that had raised a crop of small grain the previous year, no 

 lice were to be seen, while on ground where corn had been grown for previous yeara 

 the lice were sure to be found. 



From my observations of the j)ast season, 1 would suggest that the following 

 measures be adopted : Plant corn one year alternatelj' with small grain, as, while the 

 small grain is growing, the lice eggs that were deposited in that ground the previous 

 year will hatch, and the young finding no corn upon which to feed, will starve. Of 

 course many will emigrate to neighboring fields, but by repeating this method for 

 several successive years, these lice will surely be thinned out. — [James Pearson^ 

 Nebraska, August 25, 1891. 



A Parasite of the Cottony Maple Scale. 



I inclose herewith a small Hymenopteron which I take to be a parasite on the 

 Cottony Maple Scale. In examining the foliage of maples to-day I found them run- 

 ning up and down the twigs. When they would reach a scale they would run over 

 it once or twice and then turu round and apply the tip of the abdomen to the edge 

 of the scale, remaining in this position a short time, depositing eggs probably. 

 I will, as soon as possible, take other specimens and endeavor to breed some of them 

 later on. — [Warren Kuans, Kansas, July 3, 1891. 



Reply. — I am very much obliged to you for the parasite which you found appar- 

 ently ovipositing upon Pnlviiiaria. It is Coinys fttsca Howard, described in the An- 

 aiual Report of this Department for 1880, and bred from a species of Lecanium on Oak 

 from Mobile, Ala. It has never been bred from Piilvinaria, and your observation is 

 therefore an interesting one. You ought to be able to find still other parasites, and 

 I hope you will send in any you may be able to breed. — [July 8, 1891.] 



