THIRTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF STATE ENTOMOLOGIST 159 



Along with tliis insect we found also sheath maggots {.Meroniijza 

 cuncricana and J/. iiigTiventris) which were doing some damage, 

 but less than the stem maggots. A study of these maggots will 

 be continued. 



THE SPOTTED FEVER TICK 



In the Tw'elfth Annual Report of the State l-lntomologist a 

 brief review of the status and organization of the work on the spotted 

 fever tick is given. In the past particular attention has been given 

 to the tick in western Montana where in certain localities the spotted 

 fever exists in its most virulent form. This work, now under the 

 supervision of the Montana State Board of Entomology, is being 

 pushed w^ith energy and much success. Good progress is being 

 made in the eradication of the tick and the reduction of the number 

 of fever cases and deaths. 



During the season of 193 5 the tick took on a new and larger 

 significance in Montana by the appearance in the eastern part of 

 the State of a considerable number of cases of the spotted fever in 

 localities where so far as we know none had occurred before. This 

 has led to a greatly increased interest in the tick in several counties 

 and it is now^ necessary that a thorough study of the situation be 

 made. 



MOSQUITOES 



One of the most striking developments in official entonmlogy 

 in Montana in recent years has been the increasing and insistent 

 demand for information regarding the best procedure to be adopted 

 to secure relief from mosquitoes. We have had demands from towns 

 and many individuals for assistance. Very little has l^een done in 

 the study of mosquitoes under conditions sucli as we ha\e in ]\]on- 

 tana where irrigation is so extensively practiced and where the 

 mosquito fauna is so dififerent from that in eastern states. It is 

 assumed by many who write in for information that all it is necessary 

 to do is to state what is being done in other localities. As a matter 

 of fact, while some good can be done by drainage of stagnant w^ater 

 and oiling where mosquito lar\'ae are found, it is necessary to know 

 much more than w-e now^ do regarding the kinds of mosquitoes 

 present and the habits of the more important ones in order that we 

 may intelligently meet the situation. 



