FIFTH REPORT 



OF THE 



STATE ENTOMOLOGIST OF MONTANA. 



The present report discusses the principal entomological fea- 

 tures of the year 1907 in Montana, but gives particular prominence 

 to the army cutworm by treating of it under a separate section. 

 The year was one of about an average prevalence of pests, and was 

 rich in results of a technical nature that will be published elsewhere. 



During the coming year we shall conduct investigations on the 

 sugar beet insects, continuing the studies already begun, and we 

 shall make a study of the oystershell bark louse, a pest that is 

 abundant and injurious in the west end of the state. 



At the suggestion of the State Board of Health, we have under- 

 taken to study the life history in nature of the common wood tick 

 and intend to give particular attention to its host relationships. 

 This study is being taken up on account of the connection of this 

 arachnid with the Rocky Mountain spotted fever disease, as shown 

 by the work of Dr. H. T. Ricketts of the University of Chicago. 

 The amount of work we do on this tick will depend upon the funds 

 we are able to get. Unless we are able to secure a special fund 

 for this purpose we will be obliged to do only a small amount of 

 work, for the investigations are of such a nature that they do not 

 fit in well with our studies of the habits of the pests of crops. The 

 work on the tick must be done principally in the mountains where 

 the ticks are and where the host animals live, while the work on 

 insect pests can be done largely at our insectary at the college. 



