20 THE REPORT OF THE No. 33 



in the now lightly-infested territory. The foliage of severely injured trees 

 appears, at a short distance, to be scorched by fire, and in late summer or early 

 fall many of the leaves drop to the ground. The exposed feeding of the cater- 

 pillars, their susceptibility to arsenicals and to reduction in numbers by several 

 native parasites, together with the fact that much of the injury is done late in 

 the season, all seem to point to the skeletonizer as an apple pest of only second- 

 class rank. However, the damage is so severe in neglected or poorly sprayed 

 orchards and on roadside trees that it emphasizes the necessity for thorough, 

 consistent spraying wherever the pest is present. 



During the past season there were apparently three full broods and a frac- 

 tional fourth in the Hudson River valley in New York. Occasional moths were 

 still found in houses in Albany as late as October 30th. 



Control. The caterpillars feed for the most part on the upper side of the 

 leaves in an exposed manner, and are readily susceptible to everi light applica- 

 tions of arsenate of lead. Trees which receive the regular apple spray schedule 

 through the season are but little troubled by the skeletonizer, and it is not a 

 pest to be feared by the commercial grower who gives his orchard reasonable 

 care. It would seem that the calyx application made just after the petals fall 

 is the most effective, but in the Hudson River valley in New York, experience 

 points to the advisability of another application about three weeks later on. In 

 many cases, however, where this later spray has been omitted or where the calyx 

 spray has not been thoroughly applied, an application about the third week in 

 August should be made. This was advised for the control of the third brood of 

 caterpillars in the Hudson River valley during the past season and many growers 

 adopted the recommendation with apparently good results. 



TAXONOMIC AND SYNONYMIC TENDENCIES WITH ESPECIAL 

 REFERENCE TO DIPTERA 



C. H. Curran, Entomological Branch, Ottawa 



To entomologists of every degree and complexion there is, perhaps, nothing 

 so discouraging — or perhaps I should say annoying — as the continual shuffling 

 of species from one genus to another, or the frequent changes of names of many 

 of our common insects. All of us look forward to the day when stability in 

 nomenclature will be a realization. Such hope is not vain, yet we must all feel 

 that it will be some time in the distant future, an era of which we can only 

 visualize as one of vast scientific knowledge, ruled by men who, in all probability, 

 will smile indulgently when they peruse for some obscure detail the works setting 

 forth our own small contributions. Be that as it may, it in nowise alters the 

 conditions of the present, nor has it, in fact, any connection with the subject 

 under discussion. 



I hope I may not bore you by the use of technical phraseology ; at the same 

 time may I be pardoned if I use such as little as possible. It is not my intention 

 to go into minute detail, but to discuss, as the title indicates, tendencies in 

 systematic entomology and, perhaps to some extent, the influences responsible 

 for them. It is not necessary to dwell upon the work of the pioneers, nor to 

 expose their shortcomings. Such a course would imply perfection in ourselves, 

 and no one knows better than I how imperfect our knowledge and work is at the 

 present time. 



Since the appearance of Darwin's "Descent of Man" and "Origin of Species," 

 propounding theories which came as a great shock to mankind, and stimulated 

 those interested in the subject to greater research, the search for "missing links" 



