REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR I918 8'5 



The maintenance and development of an adequate representation 

 of the insect life of the State means an enormous amount of work and 

 with the passing of the present war stringency more adequate provi- 

 sion should be made for this line of activity. There are more than 

 20,000 species of insects in the State, each represented by at least 

 four stages and not a few presenting marked differences between the 

 various molts or instars of the larva. This gives an idea of the 

 enormous number of forms falling within the province of the Ento- 

 mologist. ■ A thoroughly representative state collection should con- 

 tain specimens of all and in the case of many variable species, specimens 

 of both typical and aberrant forms. Such a collection possesses not 

 only scientific value because of the immense amount of material 

 assembled and the lines of development illustrated, but is of great 

 practical service in the speedy identification of any one of the thou- 

 sands of insects of the State which without warning may become 

 suddenly abundant and destructive. It is well known that satisfac- 

 tory control measures can not be advised without at least some 

 knowledge of the habits of the insect and the more complete this is 

 the more reliable the recommendations. 



The development of collections requires adequate space. The 

 constant increments of recent years have filled the boxes or trays to 

 such an extent that there is urgent need of more space for this material. 

 The wooden cases containing the insect collections should be replaced 

 by steel cabinets and more provided to accommodate the additional 

 boxes and trays required. Biological material, specimens difficult 

 to secure and not easily preserved in a satisfactory manner should 

 receive special attention. There are now in the entomological 

 collections a long series of types of species and genera. The possession 

 of these uniques involves a responsibility to future generations and 

 every precaution should be adopted to maintain the integrity of the 

 collections if the entomological branch of the Museum is to discharge 

 its full duty to both State and Nation. 



Nursery inspection. The nursery inspection work of the State 

 Department of Farms and Markets has resulted, as in former years, 

 in a number of specimens representing various stages of insect develop- 

 ment, some in very poor condition, being submitted to the Entomolo- 

 gist for identification. As such material may originate in a foreign 

 country, the determinations of this character are difficult and require 

 for their successful prosecution a large collection and an excellent 

 library of both domestic and foreign works. The correct identifica- 

 tion of such material is important since the disposal of an__entire 



