Montana State Library 



3 0864 1004 0599 5 



Twenty-Seventh Report 

 of the State Entomologist 



Harlow B. Mills 



INSECT CONTROL IN MONTANA, 1937-1938 



Since 1930 large scale control of insect pests in Montana has 

 received increasing attention. During the drought of the past 

 few years certain insects have increased greatly in numbers and 

 have been of serious concern to Montana farmers. Assistance 

 for the control of grasshoppers and Mormon crickets increased 

 during the last biennium, both from State and Federal sources, 

 and a considerable measure of success was experienced. 



Indications are that grasshoppers will be considerably more 

 abundant in 1939 than in 1938, and that Mormon crickets are 

 increasing in some areas of the State and decreasing in others. 

 It is therefore, highly essential that both of these major crop 

 pests be considered seriously in farming operations next year. 



The control of insect pests in the State of Montana should 

 not be considered a passing thing. If we can reason from past 

 experience the farmers of the State, in approximately two- 

 thirds of the years to come, will have to fight grasshoppers and 

 Mormon crickets. In going through the past Reports of the 

 State Entomologist we find that outbreaks of grasshoppers or 

 Mormon crickets have occurred in 25 out of the last 37 years 

 in some parts of the State. This does not take into considera- 

 tion outbreaks of such insects as sugar beet webworms, blister 

 beetles, army cutworms, pale western cutworms, etc. Further, 

 many insects such as the codling moth and cabbage butterfly 

 are with us constantly. Insect control, then, must enter into any 

 long-time planning for the agriculture of Montana, along with 

 soil conservation and rebuilding, water conservation, and other 

 factors of major importance to the agriculture of the State. 



Where does the responsibility for financing insect control 

 campaigns lie? — The insect pests which have been receiving the 

 most attention from the control standpoint during the past few 

 years are grasshoppers and Mormon crickets. Both of these 

 pests are migratory and may travel many miles during the 

 season, and both will eat almost any vegetation. Control, then, 



