REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR I914 53 



VI 



REPORT OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST 



The State Entomologist reports regarding insect depredations a 

 continuance of the extended injuries by the apple tent caterpillar 

 and the forest tent caterpillar. The work of the latter species was 

 particularly evident on Long Island and in the Adirondacks. Popu- 

 lar warning notices were sent early to the press, and at Westbury 

 and Elizabethtown, power spraying outfits were used most suc- 

 cessfully against the forest tent caterpillar. The ten-lined inch 

 worm was locally abundant in the Catskills and Washington county. 



More detailed accounts of the subjects discussed in this chapter 

 appear in the annual report of the State Entomologist. 



Oil injuries. The serious results following the application of 

 petroleum compounds to the bark of dormant trees have again 

 come under observation. One of the most interesting of these cases 

 was at Dalton, Mass., and resulted from the application in May 1913 

 of burlap strips soaked in lubricating oil to sugar maple trees planted 

 some ten or eleven years previously. The Entomologist also ex- 

 amined a number of fruit trees in widely separated orchards where 

 conditions favored the behef that the serious injury to the trees 

 was due to an earlier application of a miscible oil. 



Fruit tree pests. Studies of the parasitic enemies of 

 the San Jose scale, begun in 191 3, have been continued. 

 This work has resulted in the -finding of a number of orchards 

 where these beneficial forms were abundant and apparently 

 very effective agents in checking the pest. The most efficient species 

 is the recently discovered and newly characterized Prospaltella 

 p e r n i c i o s i Tower, a form which is widely distributed in certain 

 sections of the State, at least. In spite of the abundance of these 

 natural enemies, it is beheved that, as a rule, fruit growers must 

 continue to rely upon the application of lime-sulphur washes for 

 the control of this scale insect. 



Field studies of red bug injury have shown that in the Hudson 

 valley, at least, the lined red bug, Lygidea mendax Reut., 

 is the species responsible for most of the damage to the fruit. 

 Practical work in orchards indicates that a nicotine preparation 

 such as '' black leaf 40 " is one of the most effective sprays. It 

 is probable, in the case of badly infested trees, that a special appHca- 

 tion of nicotine and soap must be made somewhat later than it 

 would be safe to use the lime-sulphur wash at winter strength. 



