84 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



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 Destroy 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. A list of the publications of the Entomologist 

 is given in his report. 



Collections. Very desirable additions to the state entomological 

 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, whose work 

 on the Tipulidae is well known. It comprises a series of larvae and 

 pupae of representative Crane flies belonging to 11 genera and 16 

 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. A list of the accessions appears in the 

 Entomologist's report. 



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 any one. 



Mr D. B. Young, in addition to numerous identifications for 

 correspondents, and other routine work, has made material progress 

 in arranging and classifying the important parasitic flies belonging 

 to the Tachinidae and is now devoting much time to the difficult 

 Anthomyiidae, among which latter are found such pests as the onion 

 maggot and the cabbage maggot. He was also exceptionally fortu- 

 nate in collecting at Wells a large series ofAmphicoma vulpina 

 Hentz, an extremely rare Scaraebaeid hitherto represented in 

 the state collections by only one or two specimens without a recorded 

 locality. 



