1924 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 11 



Special Features 



The Seed Corn Maggot. — Specimens of potato sets were received from 

 Perth county, heavily infested with maggots. A trip was made to the affected 

 field to secure additional material. Infestation appeared to be limited to a 

 single five-acre field. The maggots were reared to the adult flies and were 

 kindly determined by Mr. Curran of the Dominion Entomological Branch as 

 Hylemyia cilicura. 



Sod Webworms. — A note was received from Mr. W. H. Sands of the Pro- 

 vincial Experimental Farm at Ridgetown, that several fields of corn had been 

 destroyed by one of the webworms, apparently a species of crambid. No 

 material was received and the exact identity of the insect is not known. 



Onion Thrips. — Reports from the onion marsh at Leamington, Ontario, 

 indicate that this pest was unusually abundant and injurious this year. 



THE EARLY DAYS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF ONTARIO 

 Rev. C. J. S. Bethune, Toronto 



It is gratifying to me, as one of the founders of the Entomological Society 

 of Ontario, that it should be celebrating its "Diamond Jubilee," and that it 

 should have continued to grow and flourish during so long a period of time. 



Sixty-one years ago, two young men — the late Dr. William Saunders and 

 I— who were enthusiastically devoted to the collection and study of insects, and 

 spent all their spare time in the pursuit, after a good deal of correspondence 

 decided that it would be a good thing to organize a society and gather together 

 the few, widely-scattered people who shared with them a deep interest in 

 entomology. 



Our first proceeding was to procure the names and addresses of all those who 

 shared with us an interest in the subject. After a good deal of correspondence 

 we were able to make a list of thirty-six persons, four of them ladies, who col- 

 lected insects. This was published in the seventh volume of The Canadian 

 Naturalist and Geologist of Montreal, in June, 1862. In the autumn of that year 

 a meeting was held at the residence of Prof. Croft, of the University of Toronto. 

 After some discussion it was decided that as there were only ten persons present, 

 it would be better to postpone any action until a larger number could take part 

 in the proceedings. Later on we called another meeting, which was held in the 

 rooms of the Canadian Institute of Toronto, on the 16th of April, 1863. There 

 were only twelve present, but we had letters approving of the project, and so 

 we decided to go on. A constitution was adopted, and the society was named 

 "The Entomological Society of Canada." Prof. Croft was elected president; 

 Dr. Saunders, secretary-treasurer; and Mr. J. Hubbert, curator. 



At this time Canada consisted of Upper and Lower Canada, now the pro- 

 vinces of Ontario and Quebec, and we had members resident in both. In 1864, 

 Dr. Saunders was elected president, and I became secretary-treasurer, an office 

 that I held for seven years. In 1868, when I was living at Erindale on the river 

 Credit, after much consultation, I began the publication of The Canadian 

 Entomologist, an eight-page periodical, which has grown and flourished, and for 

 a long time has been recognized as one of the leading publications on entomology 

 in America. 



