14 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Lectures. The Entomologist has delivered a number of lectures 

 on insects, mostly economic species, before various agricultural and 

 horticultural gatherings, some of these being in cooperation with 

 farmers institutes or county farm bureau agents. Several lectures 

 have also been given under the auspices of local welfare associations. 



Publications. Brief popular accounts of the more destructive 

 insects have been prepared as heretofore and widely circulated 

 through the county farm bureaus and the local papers. 



Owing to delay in printing, the report for 19 16 did not appear 

 until the current year and is the only Museum bulletin on entomology 

 issued in the period covered by this report. A paper of more than 

 usual interest, " Insects and Camp Sanitation," was prepared for 

 the Journal of Economic Entomology. A general popular discussion 

 entitled " Gall Insects and Their Relations to Plants " appeared in 

 the June issue of the Scientific Monthly. A popular summary of 

 losses caused by insects and the possibilities in control measures 

 was published in State Service under the title " Insects Destro)^ 

 Millions in Property." The need of continuing entomological 

 investigations even under war conditions was presented under the 

 title " Entomological Research and Utility " in the Scientific 

 Monthly. There were also several technical papers describing gall 

 midges. 



Collections. Very desirable additions to the state collections 

 have been made through the year, some of the best material being 

 reared in connection with studies of insect outbreaks or as a result 

 of requests for information concerning previously unknown forms. 

 Special attention has been paid to the acquisition and preservation 

 of immature stages, since these are very difficult to secure. A 

 noteworthy donation of this character was that from Instructor 

 C. P. Alexander of the University of Kansas, widely known because 

 of his work on the Tipulidae. It comprises a series of larvae and 

 pupae of representative crane flies belonging to eleven genera and 

 sixteen species. A list of these is given under accessions to the 

 collections. A recent communication from Mr Alexander states 

 that we have one of the foremost collections of crane flies in America 

 — largely due to the efforts of Mr Young. 



Unusual demands for the identification of insects and information 

 in regard to methods of control, partly a result of war conditions, has 

 restricted the amount of time which could be given to the identifica- 

 tion and arrangement of the collections. This latter is necessary, 

 otherwise collections may be simply miscellaneous aggregations of 

 unknown material of comparatively little service to anyone. 



