[11] Report of the State Entomologist. 107 



The usual prevalence of the caterpillar of the white-marked 

 tussock-moth, Orgyia leucosticfufia (Sm.-Abb.), whose operations 

 almost annually so greatly impair the beauty of the foliage of the 

 maple and the horse-chestnut, was not observed by me in Albany 

 or in its vicinity or in other sections of the State visited by me, 

 nor was it reported elsewhere in entomological journals. The con- 

 ditions of the season may not have been favorable to it ; but 

 more probably, it had been subjected to serious parasitic attack 

 the preceding year, as was certainly the case during the present 

 year, for the conspicuous white egg-masses resting on the cocoons, 

 indicating the development of the female and giving promise of 

 future ravages, were of rare occurrence. In a cluster of twenty 

 or more cocoons, not a single egg-deposit, in several instances, 

 was to be seen. The unsightly cotton-bands that many of the 

 citizens of Albany had placed about the trunks of their maples 

 and suffered to remain so long that it seemed as if they were 

 intended to do service for another year, was but labor lost, for they 

 failed to serve their purpose. So far as my observations extended, 

 not a single caterpillar was present on the protected trunks with 

 the intention of surmounting the barrier. 



Two instances have been brought to my notice during the year 

 of an extraordinary multiplication of insects which have led them 

 to depart from their accustomed habits and to intrude in large 

 numbers in dwelling-houses, to the serious annoyance and dis- 

 comfort of the household. One of these was that of the weevil 

 known as Otiorhynchus ovatus (Linn.), which, now, for the second 

 year, has invaded many houses in Potsdam, N. T., to such an 

 extent that aid has been asked in the effort to prevent the inva- 

 sion. This species had previously displayed in other localities a 

 propensity for entering dwellings, as noticed on page 51 of my 

 Second Report (under the name that it formerly bore of Otiorhyn- 

 chus ligneus), but never before in such remarkable aumbers as 

 reported from Potsdam. 



The other instance is that of the grain-weevil, Silvamis Surinam- 

 ensis (Linn.), overrunning a house at Catskill, N. Y., but in this 

 case, probably the intrusion is traceable to its origin in the barn 

 or out-buildings not far distant. More extended notice of both 

 of these occurrences are necessarily omitted for the present. 



Several other quite interesting insect attacks have come under 

 observation during the year, the investigation of which it was 

 intended to carry sufficiently far for presentation in this report. 



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