80 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



numerous two years previous. The most common species was, as 

 in earlier seasons, the lesser red-legged grasshopper, M e 1 a n o- 

 p 1 u s a 1 1 a n i s Riley, while a number of the green-striped grass- 

 hopper, Chortophaga viridifasciata DeG. , were 

 rather common about mid-May in a field at Lewis, Essex county. 

 This latter species, however, is not one which was particularly 

 injurious earlier, and the probabilities are that it is almost negligible, 

 economically speaking. 



The indications of early spring were greatly modified by the fre- 

 quent and abundant rains of the late spring and early summer 

 producing such an abundant forage that most fields were able to 

 maintain a fair to large grasshopper population without showing 

 material injury. It is also very probable that many of the small 

 grasshoppers succumbed to unfavorable climatic conditions and as a 

 consequence the serious injuries of earlier years were confined to 

 comparatively small areas here and there which were mostly in 

 sections where there had been no earlier systematic effort to control 

 the pests. 



The developments of the last season have served to confirm earlier 

 opinions in regard to the entire practicability of controlling these 

 pests by the early and systematic distribution of a poisoned bait 

 in badly infested fields, giving special preference to places where 

 the insects are abundant. The formula for the so-called Kansas 

 bait has been published repeatedly and directions for the preparation 

 of this mixture can be easily secured by referring to earlier reports. 



A modification of the Kansas bait worthy of mention was found 

 very effective in Canada during 191 5. It consists simply of the 

 substitution in the Kansas formula, of 10 pounds of sawdust for an 

 equal amount of bran, and in areas where this was used, 103 to 139 

 grasshoppers to the square yard were destroyed in pasture and oat 

 fields, respectively. This preparation was apparently even more 

 effective if all the bran was replaced by sawdust, though this seem- 

 ingly anomalous result may have been explained in part by local 

 conditions which may not have been fully appreciated at the time 

 the tests were made. 



Phytonomus meles Fabr. This is a moderately stout, variably- 

 colored, grayish brown or greenish weevil with a length of approxi- 

 mately one-sixth to one-fifth of an inch. It appears to be a recent 

 introduction, since there is no record of its capture prior to June 

 1907, at which time it was taken in New York by Mr R. E. Dow. 

 It has been reared from clover collected in the vicinity of Albany. 

 In the latter part of May 191 2, weevils were observed in large num- 



