' 1920 J Recent Literature. 619 



species. Unfortunately his description and his figures of this species 

 fail to give a full enough account of the structure to enable anyone to 

 place it with certainty in any of the genera recognized in modern tax- 

 onomy of the Acanthocephala. . . . No evidence is presented, either 

 in his description or in his figure, which would make it seem probable 

 that his species belongs to the genus Filicollis. Thus on opposite sides 

 of the arctic circle the King Eider apparently is parasitized by Acantho- 

 cephala representing two distinct genera." — R. M. A. 



Economic Ornithology in Recent Entomological Publications. — 



A few recent entomological contributions contain noteworthy references 

 to bird enemies; they relate to the following insects: 



Round-headed apple-tree borer (Saperda Candida) : Losses from this 

 insect have increased with the development of apple growing, and at 

 present the species is a primary pest throughout the region east of the 

 Rocky Mountains. Mr. Fred E. Brooks, author of a comprehensive 

 bulletin 1 on this borer says: "Probably no other economic insect of equal 

 importance has had so few natural enemies recorded definitely and spe- 

 cifically as has the round-headed apple-tree borer," and that personally 

 he has never found any evidence of hymenopterous parasites. However, 

 he goes on to say that: 



"While the control effect of parasites and predacious insects on this 

 borer is negligible, woodpeckers play an important part in holding it in 

 check. Wherever the writer has collected specimens or made observa- 

 tions in borer-infested localities the work of these birds has always been 

 in evidence. Soon after the borers hatch the woodpeckers begin to find 

 them beneath the thin covering of bark and thereafter the birds drill 

 for them as long as they are in the tree. In several orchards where counts 

 were made from 50 to 75 per cent of the borers had been destroyed in this 

 way. 



"During October, 1915, 24 young borers were collected and planted in 

 furrows gouged out of the wood beneath loosened tongues of bark on the 

 trunk of an apple tree. A week later, when the tree was revisited for 

 the purpose of putting a wire screen around the trunk to protect the bor- 

 ers from birds, woodpeckers had punctured every tongue of bark and 

 removed the borers from beneath. Not one had escaped. In May of 

 the same year, while pupae were being collected from an orchard, a total 

 of 11 pupal cells were found and from every one the occupant had been 

 removed by woodpeckers. In another case 21 pupal cells were found, 19 

 of which had been opened by woodpeckers and the insects removed." 

 (pp. 29-30.) 



Ribbed pine-borer (Rhagium lineaium) : While not a serious insect pest, 

 this species materially hastens the death and decay of injured pines. A 



1 Bul. 847, U. S. Dept. Agr. 1920. 



