BULLETIN No. 207. 



INSECT NOTES FOR 1912.* 



O. A. JOHANNSIJN. 



These notes are abstracts from our Station records for the 

 present year. Though most of them deal with well known 

 insects they are here presented because of their significance 

 with reference to our local conditions. It is hoped that they 

 may also contain sufficient new data upon habits and distribu- 

 tion to be of interest to other entomologists. In some cases 

 descriptions, figures, and remedial measures are given so that 

 chese notes may be of service to the general reader. 



The season just past has been in some ways of unusual ento- 

 mological interest. The ravages of the spruce bud moth, the 

 abundance of a spruce leaf miner and the occurrence of 

 other spruce insects has turned much of the attention toward 

 the conifers both native and those introduced for ornamental 

 purposes. The increase of the gypsy moth area and the con- 

 tinued spread of the browntail moth have given the emphasis 

 of one more year's experience with these two pests of para- 

 mount importance. The season has been so favorable to the 

 development of scale insects that even those species ordinarily 

 little noticed have been conspicuous in many parts of the State. 

 Fortunately correlated with the abundance of injurious species 

 the insects of 1912 have included beneficial species in great 

 numbers. The syrphus maggots and other predaceous insects, 

 for instance, have practically exterminated many species of 

 plantlice over large areas, and parasites have been actively 

 engaged in their natural welfare against the injurious caterpil- 

 lars and other insects. 



* Papers from the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station : Entomol- 

 ogy No. 61. 



