106 THE REPORT OF THE [19 



On August the 4th, I found the newly hatched larva biting into the side of one of 

 the outer seeds. The seeds at this time were white and tender. The body of the larva 

 was white, waxen, and semi-translucent. 



The insects were identified for me by Lord Walsingham and Mr. J. H. Durrant. To 

 them also I am indebted for the correction of the generic name from Parasia to Metzneria, 

 Zeller. 



It may well be asked, How was this European insect advanced to Canada ? This 

 probably is the correct answer : At Point Levi there is a quarantine station for cattle ; 

 and old country hay and straw are often landed with the cattle ; and burs containing 

 larva of the species have, at some time, been landed with the fodder. The Burdock is 

 plentiful on all our roads. 



The "Kissing Bug." 



One of the strange occurrences that marked the season was the spread of the "news- 

 paper scare" of the so called "Kissing Bug." The rumour concerning this fabulous insect 

 took its rise in the United States, and was echoed by our Canadian press. All over the 

 country alarming reports were published till the women were afraid to open their bed- 

 room windows lest the bug should gain admittance. At the time that the fever was at 

 its height, an employee of the G. T. R. company residing at South Quebec, took his family 

 for a trip to the Island of Orleans. The day was hot and the man lay down in the shade 

 for a nap. While he slept something bit him — probably a mosquito or a cattle fly. In 

 his efforts to allay the irritation occasioned by the bite, he enlarged the wound. A day 

 or two afterwards his arm began to swell, and he became seriously ill. Herein was con- 

 firmation of the kissing-bug reports ! The part of the story that was not generally known 

 was, that the day after he was bitten the man assisted in unloading a car full of raw 

 hides for the tanners, and that it was the corrupting animal matter from the hides that 

 had poisoned the wound. 



About this time I came upon a group of excited people at a street corner in Quebec. 

 I looked over the shoulders of the crowd and saw a negro who was exhibiting a very fine 

 specimen of Sphinx Chersis as the veritable bug. "And this," said he, drawing out its 

 proboscis with a tooth-pick, "is the instrument that it kisses with." A shudder passed 

 through his auditors as they thought of the deadly effects of a thrust from this long oscu- 

 latory weapon into the soft cheek of Sleeping Beauty. 



INJURIOUS INSECTS IN ONTARIO DURING 1899. 



By Dr. James Fletcher, Dominion Entomologist, , Ottawa. 



A few different kinds of injurious insects have attracted more than usual notice during 

 the past season from the farmers and fruit-growers of the province. The keen interest 

 which has been taken in the spread of the San Jose Scale has been at least enough to 

 satisfy even Entomologists, who have been for three years begging fruit growers to believe 

 that the San Joee Scale is not as was claimed, " only an ordinary insect like the Colorado 

 potato beetle and many others." Unfortunately this conviction may have come too late, 

 and the very men who ought to have been seconding the wise efforts of the Government 

 to conquer this enemy by adopting promptly the measures recommended which would 

 have prevented its spreading, are now claiming that the infestation is so widespread that 

 there is no chance of eradicating it and that therefore the Government must stop all 

 extreme measures. This matter has been discussed at length on previous pages of this 

 report so that it is unnecessary to say here more than that the San Jose Scale is still to be 

 considered one of the very worst enemies that the fruit grower has ever had to fight 

 against, that there is no cheap and easy method of controlling it and that fruit growers 

 should make every effort to get suspicious scale insects found on their trees identified, 

 and if these prove to be the San Jose Scale, do everything in their power to destroy 

 them promptly. 



