REPORT OF THE STATE EXTOMOLOGIST 1901 



731 



NOTES FOR THE YEAR 



The following records include some of the more important 

 observations made during 1901. Special attention has been 

 given to forest and shade tree insects throughout the summer. 

 Systematic collecting v^'^as pursued at Karner, 7 miles west of 

 Albany, where there is an admirable growth of scrub oaks and 

 small hard pines. These conditions were excellent for securing 

 all the insects affecting these trees, 

 and the results of the season's work, 

 together with that of previous years, 

 will be incorporated in a special bul- 

 letin on forest insects now in prepara- 

 tion. The notes relating to the vari- 

 ous species mentioned below have been 

 grouped under convenient heads, so 

 that they may be of greater service 

 to the parties interested in the prac- 

 tical aspect of the work. 



Fruit tree pests 

 Fruit tree bark beetle, S c o 1 y t u s 

 r u g u 1 o s u s Ratz. This insect ap- 



■>.'< } 



pears to be on the increase in various f.^, g work of woodpeckers on 



plumtree infested by fruit tree bark 



parts of the state, as several com- beetle (ongmai) 

 plaints and personal experience seem to indicate. Our re- 

 port for 1900, p. 989 (N. Y. state mus. bul. 36) records an 

 attack by large numbers of the beetles on a peachtree 

 Sep. 7. May 22, 1901, in the same locality our attention was 

 attracted to some young plumtrees, from which a large propor- 

 tion of the bark had been stripped, and investigation showed 

 that the bark and sapwood of these trees were almost alive with 

 pupae of this insect. The woodpeckers had found them out, and 

 had literally stripped the bark from the infested trees and splint- 

 ered the surface of the wood in their efforts to get at the pupae. 

 A hairy woodpecker, Dryobates villosus Linn., was 



