39^ ENTOMOLOGY 



An insect often passes readily from a wild plant to a nearly 

 related cultivated species. Thus the Colorado potato beetle 

 passed from the wild species Solanum ro stratum to the intro- 

 duced species, Solanum tuberosum, the potato. Many of our 

 fruit tree insects feed upon wild, as well as cultivated, species 

 of Rosaceae ; the peach borer, a native of this country, probably 

 fed originally upon wild plum or wild cherry. Many of the 

 common scarabseid larvae known as " white grubs " are native 

 to prairie sod, and attack the roots of various cultivated grasses, 

 including corn, and those of strawberry, potato and other 

 plants. The chinch bug fed originally upon native grasses, 

 but is equally at home on cultivated species, particularly millet, 

 Hungarian grass, rice, wheat, barley, rye and corn. In fact, 

 the worst corn insects, such as the chinch bug, wire worms, 

 white grubs and cutworms, are species derived from wild 

 grasses. 



Even in the absence of cultivated plants their insect pests 

 continue to sustain themselves upon wild plants, as a rule; the 

 larva of the codling moth is very common in wild apples and 

 wild haws. 



The Economic Entomologist. To mitigate the tremen- 

 dous damage done by insects, the individual cultivator is almost 

 helpless without expert advice, and the immense agricultural 

 interests of this country have necessitated the development of 

 the economic entomologist, the value of whose services is uni- 

 versally appreciated by the intelligent. 



Nearly every State now has one or more economic entomolo- 

 gists, responsible to the State or else to a State Experiment 

 Station, while the general Government attends to general ento- 

 mological needs in the most comprehensive and thorough 

 manner. 



" It is the special object of the economic entomologist," 

 says Dr. Forbes, " to investigate the conditions under which 

 these enormous losses of the food and labor of the country 

 occur, and to determine, first, whether any of them are in any 

 degree preventable ; second, if so, how they are to be prevented 



