l6 REPORT OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST I92I 



concerning the pest. He also served, effective July I, 1919, as 

 collaborator in European corn borer control for the Bureau of 

 Entomology, United States Department of Agriculture, and in this 

 capacity was given unusual facilities for making observations not 

 only in this State but in Massachusetts. 



An infestation in Erie county was located in September 1919 

 and the comparatively limited scouting permissible between that 

 time and the coming of cold weather resulted in finding the pest 

 established over an area of some 400 square miles in portions of 

 Cattaraugus, Chautauqua and Erie counties, the insect having been 

 found from a little east of Buffalo south and west to Gowanda and 

 Fredonia. 



The marked differences in the behavior of the insect during 191 9 

 in the infested New York areas as compared to those in eastern 

 Massachusetts demonstrated the need of a careful study of the 

 pest in this State, and upon request the Legislature of 1920 appro- 

 priated $5000 which was used in a careful study of the field condi- 

 tions prevailing in the eastern infested area, namely in Schenectady 

 and vicinity. These investigations resulted in securing data of much 

 practical value in determining the most efficacious control measures. 



There was in 1920 a material increase in the infested areas of this 

 State, particularly in the western section. This latter was due 

 largely to the fact that the western infestation was discovered so 

 late in the season that it was impossible to scout the infested area 

 thoroughly before cold weather made satisfactory work exceedingly 

 difficult. 



One very important development in 1920 was the discovery of the 

 European corn borer in the vicinity of St Thomas, Canada, under 

 climatic and agricultural conditions practically identical with those 

 of our infested areas, a most significant feature being the extended 

 and somewhat severe injury to considerable areas of corn, some 70 

 to 90 per cent of the stalks being infested and accompanied by a 

 commercial damage placed at approximately 20 per cent. 



The past season, 192 1, was marked by a moderate extension of 

 the infested areas in New York State, the spread under normal con- 

 ditions being approximately 6 miles and the discovery in late summer 

 of a sparse infestation along the southern shore of Lake Erie extend- 

 ing almost continuously from the New York State line to the 

 western extremity of the Lake. The very scattering character of the 

 infestation suggests that it may have originated from moths drifting 

 with the winds across the lake or from infested corn stalks being 



