n»0(>.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — N'o. 38. 15T 



Insects of the i kau. 



The proscnt year has been favorable for the rapid increase 

 of insects in Massachusetts, and, thougli no one species has 

 ])een present in overwhehiiing abundance, each has done its 

 part in attacking crops of all kinds. 



The San Jose scale is as abundant as it has ever been in 

 the State, and is spreading farther each year. Where its 

 presence is neglected it makes itself speedily felt; but Avith 

 the methods we now have for its control there is no reason 

 why it should be more than a nuisance in the future, requir- 

 ing treatment every two or three years, like any of our other 

 pests. 



Cutworms and wire worms have given much trouble, par- 

 ticularly in the eastern and central portions of the State, 

 while but little has been heard of root maijorots this season. 



The army worm has caused considerable injury locally on 

 some of the cranberry bogs and elsewhere in southeastern 

 Massachusetts, and in the central and western parts of the 

 State the moths of this pest have been more abundant than 

 for some time. It has now been nearly ten years since the 

 last outbreak of this insect, and it is not unlikely that another 

 may be due before long, if unknown ftictors do not develop 

 to prevent it. 



Inquiries about insects have covered a wider range than 

 usual, but the most numerous questions have been about sev- 

 eral species of scale insects, plant lice of different kinds, red 

 spiders, borers, datanas, the bean weevil and the red-humped 

 apple-tree caterpillar. 



Since the Legislature placed the work on the gypsy and 

 brown-tail moths in the hands of a special commission, no 

 particular attention has been given them here ; but some facts 

 observed in connection with their distribution are here noted, 

 as they have been gathered by members of the station. A 

 few tents of the brown-tail moth were observed in Amherst 

 last spring and others were received from Martha's Vineyard, 

 while several were found on Nantucket last fall, showing that 

 this insect is widely distributed over the State. Several 

 cases have also been reported to the station of the presence 



