THE CHEERY LEAF-BEETLE. 3 



In a note entitled "Beetles on buttercup and azalea," in ansv/er to a 

 correspondent, Walsh (Pract. Ent., 1866, vol. 2, p. 9) determined 

 G. rufosanguinea from Ranunculus acris and another beetle from 

 Azalea nudijlora. Quite obviously the G. rufosanguinea should have 

 been recorded from the azalea. Lintner (1896), quoting Walsh, 

 says: "If the identification of Walsh was correct, it [i. e., G. cavi- 

 collis] has also been taken in June on buttercup. Ranunculus acris, in 

 the vicinity of Albany, N. Y." 



DISTRIBUTION. 



Galerucella cavicollis is known to occur from Canada and the 

 New England States west to Minnesota, and south along the Appala- 

 chians into West Virginia and Virginia. The type specimen is said 

 to have come from North Carolina. It has been taken, accord- 

 ing to Smith (1909), at Sea Isle and Anglesea, both localities near the 

 southern point of New Jersey. According to Chittenden (1899), it has 

 also been taken at Vancouver, British Columbia, and in Texas. It 

 quite likely occurs throughout the natural range of its native host 

 -plant, Prunus pennsylvanica, which, according to Gray,^ is "Lab. to 

 B. C, S. to Pa., Great L. region, centr. la., and along mts. to N. C, 

 Tenn., and Colo." Britton and Brown ^ add Georgia. 



ECONOMIC HISTORY PREVIOUS TO 1915. 



Economic injury by this beetle was first recorded in 1894 by Davis, 

 who found it feeding on cultivated cherry at BeUaire, Mich. It was 

 again reported the following year from Au Sable Forks, N. Y., by 

 Lintner. In 1897 it was reported as destructive at Traverse City, 

 Mich., by Pettit, and (1898) at Corning, N. Y., by Felt. The next 

 year Chittenden (1899) recorded injury from St. Ignace, Mich., and 

 Spruce Creek and Lebanon, Pa. Injury was observed by Harvey 

 (1901) at Orono, Me., in 1900. 



No outbreaks occurring after this time have been specifically 

 recorded in entomological literature, although there are some general 

 references to the beetle. However, economic injury was reported by 

 correspondents to the Bureau of Entomology in 1912 from Newberry 

 and Pontiac, Mich., and in 1914 from Muncy and Williamsport, Pa. 



THE 1915 OUTBREAK. 



EXTENT OF INJURY. 



The 1915 outbreak was probably by far the most injurious that has 

 ever occurred. Complaints regarding this pest were much more 

 numerous and from many more localities than those from all preced- 

 ing years combined. The beetle, instead of inflicting injury in a few 



1 New Manual of Botany (7th edition). 2 Illustrated Flora of the United States and Canada. 



