I0O6 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



parts of the city, I find that large patches of grass in many of the lawns 

 were entirely destroyed and one covering a large area was entirely ruined 

 except the front portion. The grass had been entirely eaten away and the 

 roots killed, hardly a spear of grass remained, nothing but chickweed and 

 other weeds growing. Most of the caterpillars were found resting on the 

 ground, where they apparently feed, cutting off the grass below the crown 

 and thus killing it. They select blue grass largely, which constitutes the 

 major proportion of the lawns in Buffalo. The pupae were found in an 

 upright position just beneath the surface. The insect apparently hiber- 

 nates in all stages of development. Many of the pupae were parasitized 

 or were otherwise diseased. Oct. 18, 1899, lime applied in large enough 

 quantities to kill the grass had little or no effect on the insect. March 

 31 I took about 50 specimens of Desmocerus palliatus boring 

 in Sambucus planted for a hedge. Many of the plants were de- 

 stroyed, four and five larvae being taken from the base of a single one. 

 The mines were so close together in some instances that all the wood was 

 destroyed, and the bush would break off at the base while it was being 

 trimmed. A young sugar maple which had died in the summer of 1899 

 was found this spring to be completely mined by a flat-headed borer, 

 probably Dicerca divaricata. The mines were old and deserted. 

 The tree came out in full leaf in the spring of 1899 but soon withered 

 and died. Ap. 17. I have watched the tussock moth [Notolophus 

 leucostigma] very closely since 1895 and have discovered but one 

 brood in a season. The recently hatched young were observed on an 

 egg mass early in October in 1896, but that night they were killed by a 

 heavy frost. Ap. 19. I read an article in the morning papers that the 

 tent-caterpillars had all been killed at Hamburg by the cold weather; so 

 I selected that locality for making observations. Appletree tent-caterpil- 

 lars [Clisiocampa americana] were in a perfectly healthy condi- 

 tion and none the worse for the cold weather. No forest tent-caterpillars 

 [Clisiocampa disstria] could be found. May 15. May 17 I col- 

 lected the larvae of what is probably Cyllene picta boring in young 

 hickory. May 21 the adults and pupae of M a gdalis armicollis 

 were taken in their mines in white elm. The scholars attending one 

 school gathered 75,000 egg masses (over 7 bushels) of the white 

 marked tussock moth last week. May 23. The larvae of Ma gdalis 

 have nearly all transformed to pupae. The elm-borer, Saperda tri- 

 d en tat a, occurs in the pupa state at this time. May 26. Ma gdalis 

 armicollis and M. barbita emerged in great numbers from elm 

 branches May 23 and 24. A few larvae were found at this time within 



