24 



THE REPORT OF THE 



No. 33 



for the present unrecognizable species and to describe as new those insects 

 which might be the species described, or might not. Such a course permits us 

 to gain a complete knowledge of our fauna, but it creates work for those who 

 take pleasure in establishing described species. I believe that such a course 

 is desirable at the present time, provided sufficient care is used by the student. 

 Unfortunately the European species of insects are not well understood — there 

 are hundreds of valid species in the synonymy — and many types of American 

 species are in Europe, so that one must always bear in mind the fact that a 

 new American species may have been described years ago in Europe and placed 

 in the synonymy. The securing of European specimens is not always of the 

 supposed value, because one might easily be sent a species, which is not typical, 

 although it may agree insofar as the European concepts of the species is con- 

 cerned. By this I mean that there are often included under one name a great 

 many species. I have found eight species of Ocyptera included under the name 

 Carolines and fifteen species of Echinomyia under the name algens, as understood 

 by Coquillett. So I ask, is there not a chance of receiving any one of fifteen 

 species when representatives of an European Tachinid are requested. 



We cannot overcome the need of changing names; we must have regulations 

 which will ultimately give us stability, but we can at least use discretion before 

 proposing a change, and we can also hope that the fund of undiscovered works 

 and obscure genera, species, and preoccupied names of old genera may soon 

 become exhausted. 



MISCELLANEOUS NOTES ON GRAPE LEAF HOPPER CONTROL 



William A. Ross, Dominion Entomological Laboratory, 

 Vineland Station 

 In discussing the control of the grape leaf hopper at the last annual meeting 

 of the Entomological Society of Ontario, we referred to certain field tests and 

 observations which indicated that nicotine sulphate will destroy leaf hopper 

 eggs. In order to secure more precise data regarding the susceptibility of the 

 eggs, some ninety spraying and dusting tests with a total number of 9,617 eggs 

 of known age were conducted by Mr. W. Robinson in the laboratory last winter. 

 On account of the fact that Erythroneura comes ziczac was present in large 

 numbers in the immediate vicinity of the laboratory, this variety was used in 

 most of the experiments, only a few comparative tests being conducted with 

 E. comes. The hoppers were placed on one-year-old Clinton vines, and were 

 confined by means of celluloid cages. As the Clinton grape has little pubescence 

 on the under sides of the leaves, no difficulty was experienced in locating and 

 counting the eggs. The sprays were applied with a hand sprayer, care being 

 taken to thoroughly coat the under" sides of the leaves, and the nicotine dust 

 with a hand blower. The results obtained from these tests are presented 

 herewith in tabular form: 



Effect of Nicotine on Eggs of E. Comes Ziczac 

 Table I — Nicotine Sulphate 1-1600, Hydrated Lime 5 Pounds — 40 Gallons. 



No. of tests 



No. of eggs 



Age of eggs when 

 treated 



% killed in 

 egg stage 



% nymphs which 

 died wnile hatching* 



% total 

 mortality 



9 



4 

 9 



5 



511 

 533 

 480 



558 



1-2 days 



4 " 



9-10 " 



18-19 " 



29.7 

 61.9 

 68.5 

 84.4 



48.9 



36.3 



1.5 



15.6 



78.6 

 98.3 



100 



100 



27 



2,082 











Nymphs succumbed in process of hatching. None of them actually emerged from the eggs. 



