Natural History. 121 



enemies of the corn crops whose attacks are, under favourable 

 circumstances, quite as much to be feared as that of the 

 Hessian Fly. Among them we may mention the Frit Fly 

 (Oscinis frit\ the Gout Fly (Chlorops teeniopus\ the Wheat 

 Fly (Hylemyia coarctata\ the Wheat Midge or " Red 

 Maggot" (Cecidomyla trltlcl\ an insect closely allied to the 

 Hessian Fly (Cecidomyla destructor], the Saddle Fly (Diplosis 

 equestris\ first discovered as British by Mr. Mason, near 

 Alford, the Corn Aphis (dphis (Siphonophara] granarla\ the 

 Corn Sawfly (Cephus pygmteus}^ the Corn Thrips (Thrips 

 cereallum), and last, but not least, the Wire-worms, which are 

 not worms at all, but the larvae of certain beetles, and the two 

 species of " Eelworms " (Tylenchus devastatrlx and T. trltlcl\ 

 which are true nematodes or threadworms, one attacking oats, 

 rye and clover, and the other doing considerable damage at 

 times to the wheat crops. This, it must be allowed, is a 

 formidable list of pests, but fortunately, they never seem to 

 attack at once, and even in the same localities their ravages are 

 sporadic ; one farm, for instance, may be ravaged by wire- 

 worms in one year and little harmed in the next, while on an 

 adjoining farm the case may be just reversed. Evidently, then, 

 there are many problems to be solved problems requiring 

 careful examination by skilled specialists, but likely to repay a 

 hundredfold the cost of their solution. It is for this reason 

 that we would ask for the appointment of a State Entomologist 

 for Great Britain, whose duty it shall be to inspect any infected 

 district, to report on any cases of disastrous infestation of 

 which he has obtained knowledge, and to take such precaution- 

 ary measures as he may deem requisite. May I give one 

 instance of the extreme value of the researches of the 

 American State Entomologist, Professor Riley, whose recent 

 sad death by a fall from his bicycle is so much deplored by 

 entomologists throughout the world. Some years ago the 

 orange orchards of one of the orange-growing states 

 were in danger of imminent destruction by a species of 

 "mealy-bug" (leery a] , ruin stared the proprietors in the face 

 until Professor Riley, who was investigating the infestation, 

 found that a like species of " mealy bug " was found in New 

 Zealand, but did no appreciable harm there. On examining 

 into matters he found that the pest was extensively preyed 

 upon and so kept down by a small species of beetle belonging 

 to the Lady-Bird tribe (Vedalla cardlnalls\ which closely 

 resembles in size and colour our ordinary small red Lady-Bird. 



